Naruto of the Sand
by CaptainFlye
Summary: Across the desert a woman flees her village. Just earlier that year she had been forced to birth a demon, but her next child will not share that fate. What happens when she meets Kakashi coming back from a mission and he takes her to Konoha? FemNaru
1. Escape From Suna

**So, now I have four Naruto fics, all going at the same time! lol; man, what with this, school, and work, it'll be a wonder if i don't die!**

**Anyways, this fanfic was inspired by DarkSakuren's 'Naruto of the Sand' (profile .net/u/1386015/) and is named after it in honor of the now terminated project. It happened just yesterday, to my sadness. I was enjoying the idea, and as I gave my last review, i came up with my own version of the story, and asked if i could write it. Of course, it will be very different than DarkSakuren's was. Right from this chapter it has major differences, as you can tell if you read their's. Still, this story is inspirited by them, and I am honored that they let me take their idea and write my own version of the story.**

**So, with no further adeau, (besides a dislaimer), ladies and gentlemen, Naruto of the Sand! (version 2)**

**disclaimer- i do not own Naruto**

**warning- fem-Naruto; first time for me. I like to keep Naruto a guy, but, well, the original "Naruto of the Sand" was a girl, so that's what I'm doing.**

**NOTICE! 1-27-11**

**In several early chapters i reference the original which, at the time, was still posted on DarkSakuren's profile. That is no longer the case, so ignore any comments relating to it because at this point, this is the only existing version of Naruto of the Sand. Alright, that's it. Enjoy!**

The woman named Karura was fleeing swiftly through the night. Her hair nearly matched the color of the sand beneath her feet, and she wore the long robes common to people of the Suna country. And she was also obviously pregnant.

Despite her long robes constantly catching the wind of the desert, and despite being well along in her pregnancy, she moved very quickly. After all, nothing was worth what her husband was trying to put her through again. He had already cursed one of their children, and now he wanted to do it again, but she would not allow it. Only one of her children need face _that_ fate, and he was already poised to enact her revenge on the people that put her through so much pain.

She shivered. Giving birth to her first two children was _nothing_ compared to giving birth to her third. Oh the pain! She _should _have been dead, but granny Chiyo had worked her magic, and so she lived. She lived, and her husband wanted her to go through the same pain again. _No_, she had thought, _no, I will not let you do that to me again!_ And so, after feigning weakness for months, the time had come, and she had left. Now no one would know, and she and her child would die elsewhere… She felt a small pang of guilt for that. She knew that her child didn't deserve to die, but it was better to die a human than live a demon, and so she ran, not looking back…

.

.

.

Kakashi lazily jumping from tree to tree as he headed back home. He had just finished a mission on the outskirts of the fire country. It hadn't been too hard, especially as he was still pretty young. He grinned under his mask. He had had his fourteenth birthday on his mission, but Rin had given him an early birthday present… or a half present. After she had finished kissing him she had said that he would get the rest of his birthday present when he got back.

Ever since Obito's death, he had watched over Rin just like he had promised, but not only that, he had felt himself growing to like her, much as Obito had liked her. Of course, he knew, since that day so long ago, that Rin liked him, and but he had kept himself aloof from her because he felt guilty, as if he was taking the place that Obito was supposed to have, being that close to Rin, and he still felt lingering guilt that he had almost left her. He thanked Obito everyday for teaching him that lesson.

Just then he heard a cry and all he senses jumped to the alert. Even though Konoha now had an alliance with Sumo, it was a tense one, and being on the outskirts of the two countries could be bad. However, he quickly found the source of the sound, and realized that it was a woman simply falling over a root. He sheathed his kunai and jumped down.

"Miss," he asked, walking over with his hands in his pockets, assuming his usual slouch. "Miss, are you okay?" The woman turned to look at him suddenly, a little fear at first in her eyes that faded as she saw his leaf headband, and she smiled.

"Y-yes, I am fine. I was just… taking a walk." She knew this young man would not be fooled by her face, but she didn't want to reveal all her troubles just now. What she didn't expect was the concern on his face. She had expected dismissal and him leaving, but this leaf shinobi, did he actually care.

"Miss, not to be captain obvious or anything, but you are quite obviously pregnant, and I know for a fact that there is no village for miles, and only desert to the west, after you pass through the River country, of course, but I think we both know that that's not where you're from, is it?" She looked down.

"Please, shinobi-san, don't take me back." Kakashi quirked an eyebrow slightly. He had had a feeling that she'd left on purpose, but the utter despair in her voice, the pain, was much more than he would have expected. He sighed.

"Miss, well," he scratched his head. "Miss, in Konoha we have a very good hospital, and I'm sure Minato-sensei would be happy to help you out." He kept going, averting his eye slightly as she looked at him in shock. "Would you like for me to take you there?" Karura looked at him for another moment. He was so kind hearted, actually wanting to help! In Suna, the goal of shinobi was simply power, though she had heard, from her husband, about this Minato, if it was the same one, and how 'weak' he was. Was this weakness in actuality… _kindness_? Could she trust her child to these people? She smiled and made a decision.

"Thank-you, shinobi-san. I would love too…"

.

.

.

Sometime later, Kakashi made it back to Konoha, waving at the shinobi at the gates while helping Karura move along, though slowly. He was surprised by how fast she _had_ been able to go in the first place, for a woman a little over 8 months pregnant. In the week that it took to get home, he had kept praying that she wouldn't give birth while it was just him. He had actually hoped that Pakkun would get to Konoha quickly and tell them his situation. However, in his impatience, he had re-summoned him to see what the village had said, and it turned out that he had been less than four hundred meters from the tower, and was now quite peeved at Kakashi for summoning him again right before he was done.

As far as Karura went, he never had found out just where she was from. She didn't want to say, but he did know that she was afraid of going back, not just for herself, but also for her child. This made him want to help all the more. Now he just hoped that she wasn't important and that they'd have to send her back, but what were the chances of that? Just then Karura stumbled.

"Are you okay? Is it time?" She laughed slightly and shook her head.

"No, Kakashi-san, though it is closer, it is not yet time." She smiled. This boy always got panicked when he looked like she was about to deliver, but no, not yet. It would be a few days yet. She wondered what day it was, exactly. Her doctor, granny Chiyo, of course, had said it would be 12th of the month, but Karura had noticed that she always gave date a couple days late, just so that people wouldn't get worried if the baby took longer than expected. It seemed that people got more panicked over a baby being a couple days late than being a week early. With all of her other children, they had been born exactly two days early, so she was guessing the tenth. What day was it anyway?

.

.

.

Minato was feeling flustered. Just a little. A couple days ago, he had received word from Kakashi that he had found a pregnant woman from Suna's territory and that he was bringing her to Konoha. Three days before that, he had received word from Suna's Kazekage that his _pregnant_ wife had gone missing, and to please keep an eye out for here and tell him the moment that she appeared, of course appealing to their new alliance to get Minato to keep his word. Minato was more than flustered. He was frustrated. _At least_, he thought, _I didn't have to say anything right away_. _After all,_ I_ haven't seen her yet, so I don't_know_ that's it's her. Darn Kakashi! Did you _have_ to find her? _He knew from Pakkun's report that the woman with Kakashi didn't want to go back, and that was what made his situation such a dilemma.

Usually, he would have no problem giving into an ally's request, as that would make the alliance stronger, but in this case, his heart was pulling him the other way. What was it that made this woman _not_ want to go back? What had happened between her and her husband? Minato's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Yes?"

"Hokage-sama, Kakashi is back from his mission and is ready to personally give you his report." Minato sighed, slightly dreading the coming interview and confrontation.

"Send him in." The shinobi bowed before showing Kakashi inside. Karura stayed outside to wait for Kakashi to ask for her. The young shinobi walked in and bowed.

"Minato-sensei, I'm ready to give you my full report. To start off-"

"Kakashi, Kakashi, don't worry about that," Minato said, waving his hand at him and turning to look outside. "I know well enough that your mission was a success. That's what I expect from you. No, what I want to hear from you is a little bit about this woman that came back with you." Kakashi looked at him a little odd.

"Sensei? What about Karura-san?" Minato visibly stiffened.

"Ahh crap," he muttered.

"Minato-sensei? What's wrong?" Minato sighed before turning around to address his old student.

"Kakashi, I have to tell you, even though I know you won't really like it. However, two days before I got your message, I got a message from someone else about this woman."

"Oh," replied a surprised Kakashi. "Someone's looking for her? They must be really well off, but sensei I really don't think tha-"

"She's the wife of the Kazekage." There was a moment of silence.

"Ah crap!"

.

.

.

"So, what do we do now?"

"Well, let's start off by talking to her." Kakashi nodded.

"Of course." He turned to open the door and invite Karura in. "And Kakashi," and with this Kakashi turned around to answer to his teacher's coming comment. "You aren't to let on that we know who she is." Kakashi nodded and opened the door.

"Karura-san, Mina-err, the _Hokage_ will see you now." He stepped aside to let her in as the shinobi outside the door stepped over and offered a hand to help her out of the chair she was sitting in.

"Thank-you, shinobi-san, and thank-you Kakashi-san." She stood and walked into the office of the Hokage, and gave a little bow (after all, it's hard to really bow where you're near nine months pregnant. "Thank-you, Hokage-sama, for allowing me to enter your presence." Minato made himself smile.

"It's no problem, Karura-san, no problem at all. Please, take a seat," he said, motioning to his own seat as he pulled it around for her and motioned for Kakashi to pull it over for her.

"Th-thank-you, hokage-sama," she said a little flustered. She hadn't expected such a courtesy. Goodness knows her husband was never this courteous.

"So," Minato said, leaning on the edge of his desk, "Kakashi tells me that you're from Suna? Is that right?" She nodded. "So, why exactly was it that you left?" Karura looked down at her hands, wringing them just a little bit.

"Please, Hokage-sama, I'd rather not say." Minato frowned. He did want to help her, he really did, but to go against the trust that the Kazekage was giving him, he needed a good reason to help her.

"I'm sorry, Karura-san, but Kakashi told me that you had a reason that you didn't want to go back home. However, you must understand my side of things." He looked out the window and gestured with his left hand at the village. "These are my people, and I love them and will protect them with all my power." His hand came back down, though he kept looking outside. "After the war that we were in, we have been able to make some alliances, but some a more…_tense_ than others." He finally looked back at her again.

"Karura-san, we have little to go on, but what if someone from your country comes looking for you? What would you have me do? If they come here and found you, when they wanted you in Suna, I would have to let them take you or else risk our alliance." He saw her face begin to get white as she looked up at him, but he raised his hands in a calming gesture.

"I'm _not_ saying that I don't want to help you, but you have to understand, we need to know why you don't want to go back, and who, if anyone, _might_come looking for you. In that way we can help you to better avoid being found, and we will be truly help you. Please," he said. She looked down again. Small tears formed in her eyes and fell into her lap.

"My, my _husband_ has put me through some of the greatest pain imaginable, and brought my back to bear more. I saw him to the unthinkable to our child, and live with it, and now, now he wants to, to do it again! Again! He-he," and she broke down into sobs, and there was Kakashi, immediately there to give her comfort and pat her on the shoulder. Minato, though, had to work to keep his composure. As an expecting father, he didn't want to think about what the Kazekage had done to make his wife so distressed, and he couldn't help but shudder at the idea of his wife feeling the same way. He waited for her to calm down.

"I'm sorry," she said, dabbing at her eyes with the sash of her robe, head still bowed and Kakashi stepping away again, "but it's been a very trying time for me." Minato nodded.

"Yes, I can see, but please, you have to tell me exactly what it was that your husband did, or I may not be able to help you." He looked her in the eyes as she raised her face a little. "Please." She sighed.

"My husband made our child a demon." Kakashi looked at her odd, but Minato instantly understood and had a sharp intake of breath.

"He, he did _what_?"

"My husband made our son a demon, and he told me that our next child would become one as well." She straightened her neck and looked the Hokage full in the face before continuing. "I will not have to children of mine become a demon, and I would kill it before I gave it up that fate!" Kakashi gave a slight gasp at this, still not understanding what she meant, but Minato nodded, being able to understand, somewhat, what she meant.

"I see. So that is why he wants you back…" Karura looked startled at the Hokage, and he lifted up a paper from his desk and handed it to her while he looked off to his side. She took it, eyes widening as she read it, then she fell to her knees and clasped her hands together.

"PLEASE! PLEASE DON'T DO THIS TO ME! DON'T MAKE ME GO BACK TO _HIM!_" Minato was quickly there to pull her up.

"There, there, don't get upset. Our doctor keeps telling _my_ wife that it isn't good for the baby, and don't worry," he added, "After knowing now, I promise on my life that I will never let your husband make your child into a jinchuuriki." Both the other occupants in the room gasped, realization coming to Kakashi, while Karura was again shocked by the kindness of Konoha's Hokage.

"You, you're not going to make me go back," she asked.

"No," Minato said. "You will stay here, out of sight, and no one besides Kakashi, myself, and my wife will know of it. I promise. Oh," he said as she began to break down in cries of 'thank-you' to him, "I suppose we should also let Rin know so that she can be able to help in your delivery as well." He smiled down at her, and Kakashi once again walked up to offer his comfort, though now it was a different comfort. Karura knew now that she would be fine, so now he simply did as Minato did, and offered her the comfort of his friendship, and an assurance that they would take care of her and her child.

A little while later Kakashi and Karura left, Kakashi taking her to Minato's home. He would only give Kushina a couple of the details, but Minato would explain the rest later. For now, things were good. Karura would be well taken care of. The only thing that worried Minato _now_ was the Kazekage's impending visit…

**So, i hope you liked this opening chapter. I did want to end it at the part where Kakashi goes "Ah crap" but it would have felt like too short a chapter if i'd done that, so i just inserted a break and kept going.**

**Just drop me a review telling my what you thought, what I did well, and what you think i can improve on. Thanks! Have a nice weekend! [or weekday if that happens to be when you read this)**


	2. Welcome to Konoha & Kakashi's Birthday

**Again, this fanfic was inspired by DarkSakuren's "Naruto of the Sand" fic, and as such is femNaru. **

**Anyways, I guess I'm not doing a half bad job; this is becoming more popular than any of my other Naruto stories, so I'm gonna keep it going. I'm trying to add more description in my stories, so please let me know if you like or, or if myabe I'm over doing it. Same goes with everything else on the story; let me know what you like and what you don't. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy the knew chapter, of Naruto of the Sand!**

**disclaimer- i do not own Naruto**

"This will be a good home," Karura said out loud. Kakashi gave his newly developed one-eyed smile.

"Yes, it's the best," he said. "You should see it in the spring with the water falling down the mountain, thunder rolling through the trees; ahh yes. Then those sunny days you could just sit on the monument forever and just stare at the clouds…" Karura giggled.

"My my, Kakashi-san, who would have thought that a scary shinobi like you would like to stare are puffy, defenseless little clouds." Kakashi laughed in return.

"Well, some of food around here is very nice to 'stalk'." They continued with their little jokes for the rest of the walk. Karura could help her surprise when they reached the hokage's home.

"Yes, well, it's um… it's a bit… _smaller_ than I had thought," she said. It was only a couple stories, maybe twenty-five meters across. It had a nice beige color to it and there was a little lawn out scratched his head.

"Really? I haven't been to any other villages, except for the chuunin exams, and it's not like anyone said, "look there, that's the kage's house'."

"I suppose that's a good point, but our home in the sand village was a mansion! Every Kazekage since the second used it." She sighed. "It was such a beautiful house, too. There was sand stone for the pillars, cedar wood for the walls. It was seven stories high, and probably a good seventy-five meters wide and deep. There was a porch in the third floor that was wonderful for watching the sun begin to poke its head above the hills that surround our village."

"Wow; that's a big house. How many people lived there?"

"Just the five of us, and our children's nanny's." Akashi's one eye enlarged to the size of a saucer.

"That big a house for only five or so people? What did you do with all that room?" Karura thought.

"You know, I never thought about that… Even I didn't know my way around it completely. I think only my husband did. I have no idea what he used all those rooms for, though…"

"Huh… well, we'd better get you inside so that Kushina-san can get you settled in. I'd rather not still be outside when sensei arrives. Besides, I can't keep Rin waiting _too_ long…" She nodded, smiling at the slight blush, just barely visible above his mask. Kakashi led the way, knocking heavily on the door.

"Yes, yes, I'll be right there," called out a grunting voice. A few seconds later… "Actually, if I know you, could you please just come in?" Kakashi tilted his head, but shrugged and entered.

"Kushina-san! Sensei asked me to bring a visitor by!"

"Oh, Kakashi! Wonderful! Bring them in here. I'm stuck in the living room." Karura's lips twitched. She seemed to remember something similar happening to her once. Kakashi lead her down the hall to the living room and sure enough, there was red headed woman who looked like she'd sunk too deep into a couch for a pregnant woman to get herself out.

She was a beautiful woman, and obviously fit, besides being pregnant. She had a clip in her hair, holding it on the left side of her face, and was wearing a light tan colored dress with a blue shirt underneath.

"Great, Kakashi!" She said after he entered the room. She was in the couch with its back to the doorway and could only see him because he walked right up to the couch. "Would you mind giving me a little help? I got myself a little… stuck." Kakashi quickly moved over to help, not daring to laugh in case she told Minato later. Karura, on the other hand, laughed so hard she had to hold the door frame to keep from falling over. Kushina's eye's narrowed and Kakashi's widened in fear.

"Karura-san! Please, Kushina-san is very…"

"Pregnant, I know," she gasped, still laughing. "I was just, heehee, thinking about when…hahahaaa, I got stuck like that, teehee, a few weeks ago, heeheeha, and it took five people to get me out!" She kept on laughing, not being able to stop for the joy of laughing with no worries. It was slowly sinking in that she didn't have to fear her husband anymore, and her child was going to be born as a normal child. No demon would ever reside in them like it did her poor little Gaara. Meanwhile Kushina, now pulled up from the couch, could see that the other woman in her home was pregnant, and while she did not appreciate the laughing, she decided to cut the other woman a break. After all, based on what she had said, they _both_ knew that actually being pregnant _sucked!_ Fortunately, this was also about the time Karura got a hold of herself and stopped laughing, though there was still a huge gin on her face.

"Alright, Kakashi, thanks for the help, but would you mind telling me who this woman is that Minato asked you to bring by?" She looked the other woman up and down, taking in her tattered and sandy robes. "She looked like she's from Suna's district."

"Well, Minato-sensei said that he'd explain it all when he got home, but the basics are that Karura-san here was in trouble and I picked her up on my way home from my last mission. After _careful_ consideration," and Kakashi made sure he emphasized it, hoping that that scowl would got off of Kushina's face, and also that she wouldn't explode at the idea of this other woman living there, "he decided that she was going to live with you two, at least for the next little while." Kushina's eye brow furled dangerously.

"What?" Kakashi gulped.

"Well, uuh, that is," and he took a deep breath and quickly said, "MinatoSenseiSaidSheWasGoingToStayWithYouTwoForAWhileGoodToSeeYouGottaGoBye!!!" And with that he went flying out the door.

"Kakashi! Get back here or I'll have Minato on your hide fast than you can say sorry!" She had chased him to the door… well, she tried to chase him, as a woman as pregnant as her couldn't really make it that far that fast. She really just waddled after him to the door. However, anyone that knew Kushina's temper wouldn't have dared to laugh. Karura, of course, had no reservations.

"What's so funny now!?!"

"Sorry," Karura said, covering her mouth, "it's just, I never realized how funny I must look like when I walk right now, but watching you, I think I have a pretty good idea!" Kushina's eye twitched.

.

.

.

In the meantime, Kakashi was making good on his escape. He hopped Minato-sensei would go easy on him for leaving like that, but being pregnant, Kushina had some nasty mood swings, and _no one_ was brave when those came around. If you got really unlucky she would remind you why it was that she was a famous ninjutsu user. No, nothing he could do about it right then. Right now it was time to find Rin. After all, his birthday was a week past; he owed it to her to let her give him the rest of his birthday present…

.

.

.

A couple minutes after the eye twitch found the two pregnant women very carefully _not_ sitting on a couch, but rather on a couple of chairs in the kitchen, each with a cup of tea. Kushina always had some on the stove now a days, just in case, kept on low heat.

"So, why _is_ it that my husband decided to bring you into our home, Karura-san," she said, a little too sweetly. Karura looked off to the side, looking sad at the memories.

"I could not live with my husband anymore," she said. "He was… _horrible_ to me, and my other children. I had to leave, and your husband offered me a place here." Kushina eyed her.

"And what did he do to confirm your story? Anything, or did he just take you in as soon as you told him your story?" Karura looked at her in surprise.

"Are you suggesting that I lied to get here?" Kushina smiled too pleasantly.

"Why, who in the world said I was saying that? I never did, but did you?" Karura frowned.

"I expected the wife of such a noble man to share his sentiments. Perhaps I was wrong… Maybe I should just leave," she said, putting a hand on the table to push herself up. Kushina felt a twinge of guilt. Being pregnant really made her crabby.

"Oh fine, just sit there for a minute." She got up herself as the other woman looked at her in surprise at the vehemence and annoyance in her voice. "I'll get my husband and we'll discuss this with him." Her eyes softened. "He probably has a good reason, but I'm not going to just sit here and wait from him to get home to tell me."

"Bu-but Kushina-san! That's a long walk! You really shouldn't-" Kushina waved a hand at her.

"Nah, nah, I'm not walking, I'm just getting my husband," she said.

"But, how, how can you do that without leaving to get him," she asked, surprise written all over her face. Kushina grinned.

"Oh, a woman has her ways," she said, laughing. "Of course, this was his idea. I'm really only supposed to use this for emergencies, but since I'm pregnant he'll forgive me," she said, walking out into the hallway, Karura still confused. "I mean, he just dotes on my so much now, it's almost annoying. If I didn't love him, I probably would be annoyed." She walked back in holding an odd three pronged kunai. "Now, where to get him…ah, that should be good," she said, smiling, throwing the kunai at the floor.

The instant it hit, a blond haired man fell in shock from his sitting position. He had apparently been doing paper work, but now he was falling backwards, flailing and trying to grab something. Unfortunately for him, it was his head that found a solid object first, and it was the edge of the counter behind him.

"Ow! Gaah!!! Kushina! What the _heck_ was that about?" Kushina merely stood there, staring down at her husband with her arms crossed, leaning towards her left she tapped her right foot. Minato was just sitting there, one hand rubbing his head, one hand supporting his weight on the ground.

"Well? What the hec-" a clearing of the throat and jerk of her head towards their guest was enough to get him to realize what had his wife upset. "Oh, okay." He sighed. "I guess I have to take care of this now." Then he smiled. "Of course, by the time I'm done, I'm supposed to be out of the office anyways! Thanks honey." Kushina rolled her eyes.

"Minato, you are a _constant_ optimist, aren't you?" Minato laughed, and Kushina finally grinned as he got himself up and embraced her.

"No reason for life if you can't smile and laugh about it," he said, giving her a chaste kiss, keeping in mind their company. "Now," he said, leading his wife towards a chair and getting her to sit down, "if Karura doesn't mind me tell all the details," he said, looked towards Karura for approval. She nodded.

"Alright, so here's what happened…

.

.

.

Rin was walking down the street after getting off of work early. These days she wore a mostly gray robe with solid black lining on the edges over a mesh shirt that was actually stronger than most. After the war, she had asked Minato-sensei to find one for her and promised she'd pay him back. So, he'd gotten her one that was as strong as could be. This would actually stop most kunai. The reason most shinobi didn't have them was because they were just too expensive. Rin was looking at a _long_ payment plan. Fortunately, Minato sensei wasn't charging interest. Of course she still wore her headband as a headband, holding her brown hair back enough to keep it out of her eyes. She wore black leggings as well. If she was actually on a mission, she would put some metal guards underneath them, but mostly she stayed in the hospital these days. She was usually a happy young woman, but today she hadn't smiled much. It had been a rough day at work. Also, Rin was pissed.

She had expected Kakashi back a week ago, and she had even put up money to reserve places at a restaurant… which she never got to use and was now wasted. The manager had been a jerk. She'd been about to get her refund when they came out all fussy saying that a reservation was a reservation, and things had been prepared and this and that, and "I don't care if something came up" and oh!!!! She'd almost used her medical jutsu to attack the man, but she kept herself in. She smiled and left.

She wondered if she should have mentioned that she was one of the pupils of the hokage, but she didn't like to do things like that. It didn't feel right. Of course, that just meant that Kakashi owed her one _big_ time! She considered that she just might make him wait for it after this… Of course, walking down the road and scowling, she really didn't expect to see the little masked man show up right in front of her.

"Yo!"

"AAAHHH!!!" She automatically slapped him, sending him halfway down the street until she realized what, or rather _who_ she'd just slapped. "Oh my gosh, Kakashi, I'm so sorry," she cried, running over to where he lay recovering. "Are you okay? How's your face? Can you feel your jaw?"

"Meh, meh, I'm fine," he said, rather dazed. "I'm good." He gave her a goofy one eye grin. "So, how've been Rin?" He got slapped again, but not as hard.

"Kakashi, do you have _any_ idea what I've been through while you were gone?! I paid good money to reserve us a place at a restaurant so I could finish giving you your birthday present, and what do you do? Pick up some random lady and show up a week late! And you know what? There's no such thing as a refund for a reservation, so you'd better-" Rin was cut off with some paper in her face.

"What, you mean _these_ reservations?" He was holding two tickets in his hands, for the very same restaurant that she had gotten reserved for them.

"Wha-how- where did you get those?" He smiled.

"Oh, when I knew I was going to be late, I asked Minato-sensei to do a couple things for me, and he heard about what happened to your reservations and… _talked_ to the manager. So… ow!" Before he could ask why she slapped him again, she gave him a hug.

"You moron. You sweet, sweet moron. You couldn't have told me that?" He scratched the back of his head.

"Heh, sorry. I wasn't to surprise you." Rin sighed, smiling, and finally got off of him. "Come on," she said, holding out a hand to pick him up. "We've both got to get ready for our little date. You're going to drop me off at my place first, though, to make up for not telling me." Kakashi let himself get helped up, and then walked her home, talking amiably the rest of the way. Oh, and of course, he conveniently forgot to let go of her hand once he got up. Not that she minded…

.

.

.

"Wow; that's defiantly _not_ something that I expected," Kushina said. She looked at Karura with a lot more pity, now. "So you've really been through all of that?" Karura nodded.

"Yes; it's been like hell on earth, living with that man, and knowing that my son will never have friends…" Tears trickled down her eyes. Kushina moved over and hugged the other woman.

"There now, there now, you have a place here. I'm sorry for being so rude earlier. I shouldn't have made assumptions. There now…" Minato looked at the ceiling and shrugged. He never would have guessed that his wife would have switched reactions so quickly, even _with_ Karura's story. Granted it was sad, but his wife had been one dangerous looking woman when he'd been summoned home. He had actually thought for a moment that she'd make him go back on his promise. He put it up to pregnancy. Hopefully they didn't kill each other. At least Kushina was due next week.

Oh, yeah, speaking of next week…

"Um, Kushina-hime? Karura-san? One more little detail you might want to know…" He stuck a finger in his collar and pulled it out uncomfortably. Kushina stared at him. It was her _it's better be important can't you see she's having a hard time_ stare. Unfortunately, even though this was important, he was going to be in trouble. He cleared his throat.

"I just thought you ought to know that Karura's going to have to stay inside for a little while, maybe even until after the delivery."

"And why is that, _dear_?" He cleared his throat again.

"Well, you see, I'm guessing that Karura's due about the same time as you, Kushina, that is, within the next couple of weeks or so, and well, the Kazekage is coming for a visit in about a week and a half…"

.

.

.

Kakashi was in bliss. When he had gotten back over to Rin's house, he hadn't expected her to look _that_ good. I mean, granted, he thought she looked pretty all the time, but when I girl wants to look drop dead gorgeous, she has her ways, and Rin's was making Kakashi drool through his mask (yes, he was still wearing it).

She was wearing a purple dress that was closely colored to the marks on her cheeks, with just a little bit of sleeve going over her shoulder. There was a little see-through material there, still allowing the similar stripes on her shoulders to be seen. Her hair was mostly pulled back. Some of it was falling to either side of her face, but most of it was pulled back into a pony tail. She had on a deep red sash around her waist that tied on her left side and then draping down nearly to the ground, and black heels that came up a couple inches.

She had giggled and asked if he brought a spare mask because, she said, it would be embarrassing if he was walking around all night with a wet spot on his mask. He grinned his one eyed grin and just pulled it down. He wasn't even sure why he was wearing it. She looked a little side as she looked at it. She had always known about his scares, the one over his eye, and also on his right cheek. He had gotten that on his first mission after his father had died. That was why he always kept it covered, first because it shamed him as he had gotten it due to his distraction at the loss of his father, and then because it embarrassed him that he had hidden it for that reason. He didn't feel that he deserved to have it, to bare the scare. Now it reminded him of love and friendship, those things that he had despised until Obito taught him better, but around Rin, he didn't worry so much. She knew him better than anyone, and with her around, he could bare his shame of having not worn his scar proudly.

The dinner was wonderful. Minato had made sure that their favorite dishes would be prepared, and so they ate and talked happily. He talked a little bit about the woman he had picked up, hinting that she shouldn't ask too many questions just yet, but that she would meet her soon. Rin shrugged it off. It wasn't like he was keeping it a secret. It just happened to be something better shared at another time.

Afterwards they went on a nice little walk that lasted till after midnight, one you counted the hour spent looking at the moon onto of the Hokage faces on the mountain side. Then they strolled back into town, watching the fireflies light up and listening to the crickets chirp. Finally, they were home.

"Thank-you, Kakashi, for the night. It was wonderful," Rin said, a slight blush on her face. Kakashi grinned.

"I hope so. It would suck if you didn't like it, after all, since you were technically still the one that paid for it." He sighed. "I'm sorry about taking so long, but I hope you'll understand a bit better when you meet the lady I brought back." He started to turn and pull his mask back up. After all, he wasn't going to be around Rin anymore; it was time to pull it back up, and cover the scar he did not deserve to carry. "I'll see you tomor-" She grabbed his hand, and he turned to look at surprised. He had assumed that he'd ticked her off to bad to get the rest of his present, but now she was pulling him closer, a cute blush going across her face, her eyes mesmerizing and hypnotic. Her fingers from her spare hand reach into his mask and pulled it down, then cupped his face, her pick lips drawing him closer… and then it was fireworks, the feelings that shocked him for the first moment, and then he cupped her face, rubbing her stripe on the left side of her face as he kissed her hungrily, and she responded in kind.

Finally, after a seeming eternity, they let each other go, and slowly their faces drifted apart. They were both blushing.

"Happy birthday, Kakashi-kun," Rin said, looking down a little shyly, considering what she'd just initiated. She walked slowly into her house, waving timidly at him, and he waved back, a goofy grin on his face. As the door closed Kakashi fell backward to the ground, the goofy grin still on his face, and a slightly trickle of blood ran down one of his nostrils…

**Again, I hope you liked the chapter; i had fun writing KakaRin, though its kinda sad, you know? I mean, as far as we know, she's dead, so that's probably what's gonna happen here. Poor Kakashi... :(**

**But, the story's moving along still. How'd you like the Kazekage's coming visit? Just fyi, he had a secret agenda when he set this up; can anyone guess what it was? There's hints in the story as it stands.**

**Well hey, i have to get back to h/w; have a nice week ya'll!**


	3. Hello, Naruto

**Well, it's been a little while coming, but i had to take 4 test in just two days last week, so i was a bit busy, but thanks to that extended time period, and a couple PMs from Gir101 gave me the idea i needed to make an early Gaara and Naruto connection that i thought made some sense. I hope that guys like this chapter okay I kinda felt that i rushed over some of it a little too much, but at the same time, i didn't want to delay this scene any more, where Karua dies and Naruto is given to the Namikaze's, not to mention the sand sibs realizing that they now have a new sibling.**

**Anyways, next chapter will have the Kyuubi attack, and starting now, i'd like to start another poll option. I already have this one posted. The question is, since i feel so bad for Kakashi, is does Rin survive the Kyuubi attack? Keep in mind while voting that jsut because she lives doesn't mean that Kakashi doesn't think that she dies. If she lives, he _will_ think that she's dead. But hey, please vote on that, and don't forget to review this chapter, too!**

**disclaimer-don't own Naruto**

The next morning Kakashi sat up and shook his head.

"Huh? Where am I?" He was utterly confused about what he was doing sitting the middle of the street. Turning his head around he saw Rin looking at him in surprise.

"Kakashi? Why are you still wearing your clothes from our date last night? And why in the middle of the street? Is that dried blood on your face?" Memories of the past night (especially the kiss) flooded Kakashi's mind and he promptly fainted again, blood pouring down his nose again.

"Kakashi-kun!" She rushed him to the hospital where he spent the next day recovering from pleasure shock.

.

.

.

A small red haired child was crying. His wanted his mother, but she wasn't there. Other people came, but none of them felt the same. Even those two that looked like him didn't feel the same, even if they were a little better. At only about nine months, that was all this child could really sense was feelings, and he especially didn't like that man who had been around his mother so much. He missed her warm feeling. Where was she? He curled over in a ball, resting on his left side, covering his face with his hands, crying into them. Then he removed his hands from his face in shock. He had seen her! He looked around, trying to find her again, but no, she wasn't there. His tears resumed, his face covered, and all he could think about was her, and then there she was again! Right in front of his eyes! She was wearing different clothes, talking with strange people, but he knew that feeling. It was her… it felt so nice here, in this place. Those others felt like his mother did. It was so… _safe_… He wished he could see better…

Getting tired he let his right hand fall down to rest, and then he saw his sand gathering outside his crib. It was weird feeling, looking at his mother with one eye, and looking at his room with the other. How did that work? Then he realized that his sand was making what his other eye saw. He started to let go of his eye again, but as the image started to fall, and he quickly put his hand on his eye again. So, he stayed there, just looking as his mother smiled and laughed, rubbing her large belly…

.

.

.

The Kazekage sat in his chair fuming. He still had to find his wife, otherwise his trip to Konoha would be pointless. He was still going to use the excuse that he wanted his children to see a little bit of the world. How _dare_ she run away like this! He slammed his fist down and stood up to pace.

He was the Kazekage, one of the most powerful men in the world, with one jinchuuriki child, and he had almost had another until that fool of a woman left. She wasn't going to have to suffer for too much longer! After all, Chiyo had said that she wouldn't survive another child birth. When she'd heard that she was pregnant again was when she'd gone into retirement. She never responded to his summons anymore and when he'd go to see her only her brother, Ebizō, would be the one doing the talking, and even he regarded the Kazekage coldly.

Still, there was a small chance that his wife would be found, and so he kept planning as if his plan would be working out. He frowned at the interruption in his plans. If he had known this was going to happen, then he could have prepared another container, but now there was not enough time. And he was angry. No, the flaw was not his planning. The flaw was no one appreciated his plans, and so they tried to stop them. Could they not see the power that would come to them from the two jinchuuriki? Two jinchuuriki that would be under his thumb and power?

He paused to look out the window, and gave a small smile. To anyone else it would have been seen as one of insanity. He would be leaving in two more days for Konoha. Things would favor him, he decided. After all, what he willed, was!

.

.

.

Two children, two and three in age, were walking down the hallways in their home. The three year old was a blond girl and was wearing a small purple robe with a red sash tired around her waist. She was dragging along the two year old, a boy, who was brown haired and looked much like his father. He was already wearing a black shirt and pants like what he would wear in his later years. He'd only been doing it the last week or two though, after mother left. He said that until she came home, he was only wearing black. Someone had told him about funerals once and wearing black, but since he was only a two year old he didn't really understand too well what it meant. Hence his odd reason for wearing black. Right now, though, he really didn't want to go where his big sister was taking him.

"Kankurō-san, come on, we have to check on Gaara." The small brown haired boy shivered.

"But Temari-sis, little brother is scary! His sand hit me!" Temari shivered, too. She could remember when Kankurō had tripped the last week, running into the room their brother was playing in with his toys. He had been in direct line for their brother when sand had come up and thrown Kankurō hard into the wall. He had been put in the hospital for the day, but he was fine.

"I know he is, Kankurō, but he's our brother! And we need to make sure that his nurse in there!"

"Pleease, sis? I don't wanna!" Temari sighed, but not in defeat.

"Fine, I'll get you a cookie later." Kankurō smiled.

"A cookie?" The little boy didn't need much time to think that over. "Okay! But-but not too long. He's still really scary." Temari nodded.

"Sure, not too long." They reached the door and she started to slowly push it open. "Just remember not to… not to…" She broke off as she looked in their brother's room and saw the moving sand that he was watching, seeing her mother in the image.

"Temari, what are you looking… at…" Kankurō had been pushing his way in, trying to get their visit over and done with quickly so he could get his cookie. He also paused, seeing the image. "Ma-mama?" He whispered, staring at the image. He slowly walked into the room, holding a hand up to the sand. Before he touched it, though, Temari had followed and put a hand on his shoulder.

"No, don't touch it." Kankurō looked at his sister in confusion.

"Huh?" She pointed at Gaara in his crib.

"Brother is doing this somehow, and if you touch it, it might stop." Kankurō shivered slightly, thinking about his brother's power, and then nodded, listening to his sister. So, the siblings just sat there, watching their mother in this strange house. The older two only saw her because the others had left and she was sitting in her room, humming and sewing. She didn't notice the little sand eye that was hovering in the air, too distracted to care about little details like that. She was happy.

.

.

.

"Sister, we have to tell daddy! He needs to know that we can see-" Temari put a hand over her brother's mouth, looking around as he struggled to try and talk again.

"NO, Kankurō, no, we _can't_ tell dad a _word_ about that, got it!" He looked at her in confusion, but he stopped trying to talk, so she let go. "Kankurō, you see, if we tell dad, he'll bring mom back, but also, it will make mom sad again. Didn't you see how sad mom was when she was home? And how happy she is now? We can see her, with Gaara's help, so we'll just do that, and we won't tell dad. Okay?" Kankurō looked sad. He knew his sister was right, but he still wanted his mom…

"Okay," he said sadly. "Okay; we don't tell daddy. Temari sighed in relief. Now she just needed to make sure that dad never found out.

.

.

.

Karura was sitting on the table at her new home with the Namikaze's. She'd just met a nurse named Rin, Kakashi's friend, and she was being given her inspection. Rin would have been by sooner, but she ended up getting a couple emergency patients, and with Tsunade Senju no longer in the village, they needed the skills of Rin and several others to attend to the patients. Finally, however, Kakashi was sent to collect Rin and introduce her to her new patient. Rin bowed when she met her.

"Greetings, Karura –san. Kakashi has told me a lot about you." Karura smiled.

"Of course." She looked at the two as the young woman stood up. She grinned. "So, how long have you two been a couple?" Kakashi started coughing violently and Rin blushed a deep red.

"C-c-couple? Wh-who said anything a-about that?" Karura giggled.

"It's pretty obvious, the way you two are around each other. Besides, Kakashi keeps sneaking glances at you-"

"Karura-san! HOW HAVE YOU BEEN?" Kakashi quickly tried to change the subject, fearing Rin's wrath. He couldn't help it if she had a cute butt after all, could he? Karura laughed at his reaction, while Rin's eyes widened and she looked suspiciously at her boyfriend.

"We'll be talking about this later," she said quietly, turning back to her patient. "Anyways, let's see how your child is doing, shall we? Kushina-san and Minato-sensei should be home soon and then I'll check on her, too." Karura nodded, sitting through the examination. She noted that Rin was a good medic-nin. She had very gentle hands, much as elder Chiyo had when Karura had been in pain during her last couple of pregnancies. Chiyo was still years more advanced than this girl, of course, but one day, she just might match her. Rin finally stepped back, frowning slightly.

"Kakashi-kun, could you get me one of my bottles of water? I think I left my bag in the living room." Kakashi nodded and left. Rin waited a moment. "You know, don't you?" Karura looked down.

"You could tell?" Rin nodded.

"What are you going to do? You're child won't have a mother for very long." Karura looked up.

"I had hoped that no one would know, and that then Kushina and Minato could take it and raise it together. They would be good parents for my child," she said. Rin nodded, smiling sadly.

"Yes, they would, but I think that you should tell them-"

"RIN! RIN! Kushina needs you now!" It was the voice of Minato, crying out desperately. Kakashi and Run almost ran into each other as they ran into the entryway. There was Minato, frantic looking, and Kushina was in great pain, moaning loudly, and gripping, sometimes clawing, hard into Minato's arms. The two ran up to him to help him carry her.

"We were just walking down the street, almost home, and she stopped! She was smiling for a second, and then she's been like this the last couple of minutes! Is it normal, is she okay?" Rin tuned out the desperate father as she'd been trained to do, even if it was sensei. Kakashi helped her direct them to the living room where they had set up a birthing table. It was nice and soft, and strong enough to support even Kushina's powerful blows, should she labor pains get that powerful or her.

Over the next few minutes Rin looked on, doing quick diagnostics, checking Kushina's progress, and softly reassuring the two soon to be parents. That is, until she suddenly stopped moving in shock. Kushina was still in pain, but Rin was simply too shocked to react for a moment.

"Ka-Kakashi-kun… please, hold up Minato-sensei." Kakashi quickly did so, though both wondered why Minato needed holding up.

"Rin? What's going on?" Rin sighed, looking sad.

"Sensei, your child got caught around the neck with it umbilical cord and has died. The pain Kushina-san is experiencing from the pull on the cord and the child's unnatural position inside her. I'm going to sedate her and pull the child out." Minato wailed in despair, and would have fallen to the ground had not Kakashi been holding him up. Rin sadly went to work. Kushina was soon asleep, still moving somewhat from the pain she'd had, but now Rin moved to remove the child that had almost been borne. Minato sobbed and asked to hold it anyways as Rin finished her work. Rin nodded and Minato cried, holding the small body to his.

"Oh Naruto, Naruto, I'm so sorry. We should have been more careful…"

"It's… dead," came Karura's voice. Minato looked over at his guest and nodded, tears blurring his eyes. Karura slowly walked over. Kakashi was helping Rin to clean up, and Kushina was no longer in pain. It would be a few hours before she woke up, however. Karura reached Minato.

"May I?" Minato looked at her confused. She held out her hands. Minato looked at his would have been child, and slowly handed it to her. He looked down at his wife, and leaned over to kiss her forehead.

"I'm sorry, Kushina. We lost him."

"Maybe… maybe not quite." He looked at her surprised to see her gathering chakra and placing her hand on his child's body.

"Karura-san, what are you doing?" Sweat glistened on her forehead.

"I'm giving your child a second chance at life." Minato quickly stood up.

"No! Not at the cost of your life!" He made to take the child away, but she turned quickly.

"It will not risk my life, I promise." He stopped.

"What will it do?" She didn't answer for a moment. "What will it do?"

"I'm sorry, wait until I'm done. It will be fine." Kakashi lifted his headband, revealing his sharingan, to watch what she was doing. It was amazing the chakra flows, but he didn't understand why they were flowing back and forth between the child, through her arms, and to her belly. He still saw no life in the child, though. What was she doing?

After some minutes, she gasped and dropped into the couch behind her, exhausted. Rin came up to take the child away, sealing it till it could be put into a small coffin and buried, or cremated if that's what her sensei and his wife wanted. Minato walked over to her, taking a hand in his own.

"Karura-san, what did you do? I know you didn't bring my child back to life, so what was it you did?" Karura took in a couple deep breaths before answering.

"Minato-sama, first, to understand, I must tell you something I've been withholding, but Rin found out today." She took another breath. "I will not survive giving birth to my child, Minato-sama."

"What? Why not!" She looked up to the ceiling.

"In truth, I should not have survived giving birth to my third child, Gaara. His was a hard pregnancy, especially with the sealing of Shukaku into him. I should have died, but elder Chiyo, gifted as she is, saved my life. She, at least, was kind to me. But even she knew that she could not save me from another pregnancy, no matter the conditions. So, I had hoped that after I gave birth, you would care for my child."

"Of course we would have! Why didn't you just tell us?" She looked at him.

"Minato, you forget what I've had to live with. My husband is insane now. I have trouble feeling completely safe and secure, even if my heart knows that it is so. The same goes for these assurances.

"Back to what I did, well, I used a combination of a jutsu I once assisted elder Chiyo in developing, she called it resurrection jutsu, and also the jutsu that sealed Shukaku into my son. What I did was I took what remained of your child's life force, and I put it into my own. Now, even though I give it birth, my child shall be _our_ child; the three of ours. Into your own child, I took out all that I could that was my husbands. She will be a free child." Minato stared at her.

"That-that's amazing! You are that talented?" She chuckled.

"Well, I'm just well studied is all." She looked him deep in the eyes. "Please understand that I did not do this to try and _make_ you take care of my child, I-"

"KARURA!" The woman was shocked into silence. "Karura, all I want to say, is _thank-you_. Thank-you for what you're doing for us. I promise, we will take care of your child with all the care we can." She smiled.

"Thank-you. I just hope Kushina-chan feels the same way." He chuckled.

"Without all those extra hormones running through her body? Easily. Though she'll take the news of Naruto's death pretty hard…" Karura thought for a moment.

"You know, I never did decide on a name for my child. You… you could call her Naruto, if you want…" Minato smiled. Rin and Kakashi sighed with relief that things would work out, even if they were a bit sad.

.

.

.

The procession neared the great walls of the village hidden in the leaves. In the front was a man in the robes of the Kazekage. He preferred to walk rather than ride on a horse or in a carriage or wagon. His three children, though, were all in the same wagon. Kankurō and Temari seemed to be getting along with their little brother a little better the last few days. It didn't matter yet, and may even be to his advantage later, if he could use them to make Gaara into a greater weapon. He was still fuming, of course, that his wife was still missing. His project had been so carefully timed. It _should_ have worked perfectly, but that _woman_ forgot her place. No matter. He was the Kazekage. He would make _sure_ that things worked out.

Temari, meanwhile, was trying to calm his youngest brother. He wasn't enjoying the chill morning air. The desert, being dry, did hit him with its cooler air in the same way. She was having some success, at least. He wasn't wailing anymore, but she had also learned over the past few days that she or Kankurō needed to keep an eye on Gaara to make sure that no one would be around whenever they looked at their mother. It was hard finding any time to do it, especially on this trip. It was unbelievably hard to do it at any time other than the middle of the night, when no one would be awake to see.

Kankurō was getting used to his brother. He was still unsure of him, but his brother seemed more… cute now, than he had before. Of course, it helped that Gaara was able to show them their mother. They'd even been able to get some sound, somehow, when Temari had held him as he was doing his trick with his eye and sand. It was so nice to hear her voice again. Kankurō hoped that while they staying in this weird wet place that they would be able to have more time to look at their mother. Maybe they could talk with her, too…

.

.

.

Minato looked around before getting up. It was the morning of the Kazekage's arrival. Kushina was in her night dress, sleeping beside him. She _had_ taken the news really hard, and after hearing of Karura's gift to them, she had burst into tears of gratitude. Of course, being an Uzumaki, she had recovered fairly quickly. She was happy now, and they'd spent the last night like it was their honeymoon again. Which was why anbu were now at the door yelling for the Hokage to get up. He kissed his sleeping wife on the forehead before getting up and quickly dressing. He would have to tell the Anbu that they shouldn't be so loud. Of course, he really should have been ready to get up this morning…

.

.

.

The Kazekage received the expected reception at the gates, thought that Minato fool was a little more tired than he'd expected, even if he was grinning like a fool. He mentally rolled his eyes.

"Welcome, Kazekage-sama! We've been awaiting your arrival! We have some festivities planned, of course, to celebrate your visit with your family." He frowned for a moment, then leaned over to speak to him softer. "Though I am sorry that we have not received word of your wife. One of our shinobi reported seeing someone would looked like they were from Suna by the border between our nation and the river country, but they didn't know of the search, and despite returning to that area, we have failed to find anything. I'm sorry, my friend." The Kazekage almost let himself show surprise. He hadn't really expected Minato to do much besides keeping an eye open. He laughed inside. This man would be his own doom.

"That is fine. I thank-you for your efforts. I presume we have breakfast waiting?" Minato smiled again, nodding.

"Of course, my friend. We have a number of dished from both of our countries…"

.

.

.

The rest of the day passed easily. The Kazekage never suspected that his wife was so close to himself at that very moment, and Minato played his part perfectly. The only possible hitch was the sand siblings' secret occupation in the middle of the night. The still had not been caught, and Karura never noticed the little eye hovering in the air as she hummed and passed her time, preparing what she could for her daughter. She had never asked what it was, but she had noted that Rin used that word _she_ when she'd been giving Karura her examination. It wasn't hard to figure out. So, she started making little clothes for a baby girl.

She was receiving even more attention, of course, from Kushina, not to mention apologies for her attitude while pregnant. However, despite the previous nights… _activities_, she wasn't in very good health, either, and so she would be staying home, the excuse being that she was pregnant. That way they would never have to pretend that Naruto's birthday was a different day than it was. Besides, if people that thought she'd delivered at all, they would want to come over. So, for the next few days, Rin and Kakashi were assigned to watch over the house to keep everyone out. A couple people came by, insisting to be let in, and for those, Kushina would put on a henge to fool them, and lie on the couch and act the part of a moody pregnant woman. No one ever stayed for very long, and then the four people in the house would laugh at Kushina's antics.

For her part, Karura did notice that her baby had been livelier than ever since she'd performed her unique jutsu. She thought it meant that her Naruto would be as lively as her other mother, Kushina. She didn't think that that was particularly a bad thing, of course. It meant her daughter would have a lot of fun in life. She giggled, thinking about the laughs that would be had, though sad that she would miss them. She looked up from her knitting and leaned her head back, closing her eyes and smiling. It was night time now, and about the time that she usually went to bed. She'd heard Minato come in and get greeted by Kushina (not that it had been exactly hard to hear… even right at that moment) and she shivered for a moment at the thought of being so close to her husband.

She sighed, opening her eyes. Her eyes widened and she gasped, but surprise turned to confusion. Looked all around the room in detail. She could have _sworn_ she'd seen an eye staring down at her… what was going on?

.

.

.

"Quick, someone's coming! Gaara, stop it," Temari was trying to say to her brother. He was just giggling and smiling as he saw his mother. She was desperately trying to get him to stop without antagonizing him. She knew that if she did, she'd get hurt, but they were getting closer!

Kankurō looked at his sister. He knew she was trying hard to do things right, but their brother wasn't listening. Just as his sister knew they were about to get caught, he knew it, too. He took a deep breath, then jumped at his brother and sister, already bracing himself.

It worked. Seeing his brother get his by his sand, Gaara was startled into letting go of his eye, the sand picture falling away, and Gaara starting to wail. Then their father came in.

Temari was looking at Kankurō in shock and Kankurō was bleeding a little on his left arm where he'd hit the wall. The Kazekage rolled his eyes.

"Can't you children do anything right? Temari, take your brother to the household medics and put Gaara in his crib. I'll have a nurse look after him after all." Temari got scared that they would get found out, but she just did as their father said. After they were down the hallway a ways, her brother spoke up.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't think of anything else!"

"That's alright. After all, it was really brave of you." Kankurō looked at her hopefully.

"You think I was brave?" She nodded, smiling, and so did he.

"Sweet! Maybe I'll be able to be a shinobi after all!" She laughed and messed up his hair as the kept onto the infirmary.

.

.

.

The week past by quickly. It was now the tenth, and the morning after the sand group left. Minato could tell that the Kazekage was in an exceptionally bad mood, but he couldn't tell why. He had just shrugged it off and returned home for the day. Karura was getting very close. She had told them that she thought it would be the next day from them, the tenth, so he asked Rin to stay the night.

As for the sand siblings, Gaara did have a nurse the rest of his time there, though she learned very quickly to be very careful with the child. She was almost at her wits end by the end of the week. She'd had to share time with a couple of other nurses when she'd learned that the child never slept. The details have been vague, but suggested some sort of medical condition, and he was constantly active. They _needed_ to watch him all that time. The sand sibs never got another chance to look at their mom. That is, until they were on their way home, the morning of the tenth. They had taken turns sleeping and waking the other up until they were sure that the adults were all asleep. Finally, they snuck into Gaara's tent and helped him set it up. And there she was… but who was that little child with her?

.

.

.

Everyone got woken up about midnight when Karura's scream let them know that she was going into labor. Minato quickly put up a ward to keep their sounds from escaping. Rin had come running up, half asleep and having to put her shirt back on. Kakashi ran up soon after carrying several wet clothes as Rin had told him to do before.

The labor was relatively short, apparently. It only last a couple of hours, and by three am, there was a screaming blond girl being passed between everyone. Kushina was the one to kick everyone out after a couple of minutes.

"Hey now everyone! Don't you think that we should let the lady have some time between herself and her child! After all, the rest of us will have plenty of time, but she only has… well… Rin?" Rin looked down.

"Karura san only has between a few minutes to a couple hours." Minato grimaced.

"I'm sorry, dear, you're right, of course." He looked at Karura, moving over to her and placing the baby in her arms.

"Karura-chan, thank-you for your gift. We will do all we can to take care of you-our child. Enjoy your time with our girl. We'll make sure that she knows you loved her." Karura smiled weakly, nodding. Blond little Naruto quieted down as she was put in her birth mother's arms and everyone quietly left the room. Rin and Kakashi walked hand in hand down the stairs to the living room to the couches they had set up to sleep on, if they ever made it that far. Rin was feeling romantic at the moment, having seen such a beautiful baby, and she was wanting make-out session… not that Kakashi was going to complain.

Kushina and Minato went to their room, setting their alarm clock to go off in about a half hour, and they did that again every half hour after checking on Karura, who was just taking all the time she had to coo over her child, smiling at her and kissing her. It was some time later that she looked up to see the eye once again. She didn't gasp this time. This time she just studied it. It was made of sand…

"Gaara?" she asked, tentatively. "Is that you, my Gaara?"

Back in camp, the sand siblings gasped. Their mother could see them? But no, Temari though, she didn't know if it was them. It had been a question. Maybe there was some of Gaara sand involved. She thought for a moment then came up with an idea. Leaning over she whispered to her brother softly. Gaara didn't seem to listen, but something else happened on Karura's side. The eye expanded, though it was still there, and she could see and image of her other three children. She gasped. Temari was actually holding Gaara! And Kankurō was close as well! Maybe they would be able to help him after all…

"My children…"

"Yes, mama, we're here…"

"Of course you are, Temari." Temari and kauri were shocked.

"Yo-you can hear us?" She nodded.

"Of course I can. Gaara seems to have quite the talent." She frowned. "Does your father know about this?" The children nodded, and she sighed in relief. "Good. Never tell him about it, understand?" The nodded again, then Gaara was heard.

"Mama! Ba-bee!" She smiled, looking down, and up again.

"Yes, Gaara, baby. Her name is Naruto, and she is your little sister."

"Heeehee! Sis-a! Sis-a!"

"What? Really? I'm not the only girl anymore?"

"What! A_nother_ girl?" Karura laughed.

"Yes, another girl, but…children, you may never meet her, I don't know. But if you do, do you promise to take care of her?" Temari and Kankurō were confused.

"But, mama, can't you take care of her?" She looked at Gaara for a moment.

"Temari, help your brothers understand. I'm not going to be here much longer. I'm going." Temari, smart girl that she was, quickly caught on.

"But why, momma, why?"

"It's… complicated. Naruto's new parents may be able to tell you someday, but for now…please promise you'll… protect… her… Gaaaaraaa…." She never did finish. She died in that moment, but with a smile on her face. This scene would last forever in each of their minds, but especially in Gaara's as he came to understand that his mother died right then. He would come to decide that she was calling for him, specifically, to protect his sister, and so he vowed he would find her. It was his mothers wish, and his mother loved him. He would do it, for her, but for many years, he would think that he failed before he found her again.

**Well, there it is! I hope you liked it. What _did_ you think of that new development with that sand eye Gaara uses? Oh, and to explain the sound, that's temari's doing as a wind element when she's connected to Gaara as they do this. It was the only way that i could think of to make it work, like i said. So, what do you think? (of the chapter and story in general, i mean)**

**Also, just something i thought i should note, since most people don't check on DarkSakuren's, and because we all know some people can just be that gross, even though i have the two main characters listed as Naruto and Gaara, u have to remember that in this story, they are siblings. There will be no NaruGaara. If you want a heads up, read DarkSakuren's original version of Naruto of the Sand. They left a review on the first chapter, so you can reach their account by checking the early reviews. Oh, and please review their story; if they get enough, the orginal may resume, though i will keep writing my version as well, of course.**

**Anyways, i hoe you guys enjoyed the chapter. Have a nice week!**


	4. Tragedy and the Kyuubi

**Just FYI- every thing else here after this paragraph was written a week or two ago, but i wanted to put up all my final updates together. Don't worry, i'm not ending my stories yet! I just need to concentrate on school, so my stories are going on Hiatus for a little while. It should be late July when I finish this semester and am able to write again. It's gonna be sad to be finished for the time being, but i'm looking forward to being able to write again. I hope that my long absence doesn't deter you from leaving reviews as you read this, though, b/c i still need to know if i missed something in my editing, and i'm always happy to hear any ideas that you guys have, and some people, like Saruke101, help me think more in depth on the things i've written. (if anyone reads that review by Saruke101 from last chapter, right now i'm leaning towards the jutsu making it geneticly the three of them leaving out the kazekage, but after i get back i'll be sure if i need to go one way or another for the future portions of this story). So, for the last time for a while, enjoy the story and let me know what you think!**

**Hey welcome back! I hope you've been enjoying the story so far. I was looking at the chapters i've written so far and i realized that each chapter ends up being longer than the previous one! Hehe, kinda funny, huh?**

**Anyways, like i said before, this is the part where the kyuubi attacks. It takes about a third of the chapter to get there, and then they're gonna be a little bit of back story on Kushina, mostly because i'm trying to improve my skills (and i'd appreciate feedback on that seciont, btw) and also, i needed to give her a reason to, well, well i'll address that at the end of the chapter.**

**Also, depending on what you voted for on Rin, you might get a bit upset, but don't kill me for it, please! Just remember what i said in previous chapters and think about it... Anyways, even blabbing; most of you probably skip these sections, just i like do a lot of the time. So, here's the story!**

**disclaimer-don't own Naruto, Kishimoto does.**

"Oh Minato, I wish they hadn't died," Kushina said, holding him with her right arm as their new child rested in her left. They were outside now, in the backyard. They were holding their own private funeral for Karura and their would be son. It was just the two of them along with Rin and Kakashi. Minato held his wife to comfort her for the loss of a new friend, and the child she'd carried for the last nine months.

"I know; I feel like we haven't done near enough for her." He sighed. "The life we live is so cruel. I hope that I can fulfill my master's wish, and find a cure for that hate that exists." Kushina nodded, hoping with all her heart that her husband could fulfill the wishes of his master. She wondered where Jiraiya was now…

.

.

.

A middle aged white haired man was rushing through the trees. He was wearing a unique headband, with the kanji for 'oil', wearing a red robe along with his tunic and sandals, a large scroll strapped to his back. He'd heard a rumor through his spy network. Granted, it was only a rumor, and a fantastic one, but from one of his most reliable sources. Now, his home was I grave danger, and he didn't know if he'd arrive in time to help save the village he loved so dear, even if he didn't spend much time there anymore.

The sun was rising. The birds were singing. There was dew on the ground and the leaves he was leaping through. Even so, the sage had a sense of foreboding. Who could have thought that such a beautiful beginning to a day could have such a horrible ending…

.

.

.

The Kazekage had been fuming all day. He'd been so close! He had sent men to search for his wife, asking the Hokage what areas his men had already searched. He'd been so gleeful at the time. After all, the man had no idea that he would be partaking in his downfall! The Kazekage had been given information through an encored message that he didn't really know the source of, but it had told him of an attack that he could take advantage of that would happen to the leaf village, and he had planned on using this to gain a magnificent power for himself.

He had laughed for the dream of the hokage's demise, but what had happened? Nothing! Those fool shinobi of the leaf village were worthless. They had found no trace of her, it seemed. How hard could it be to track a pregnant woman in the forest? A place she knew nothing about, and where the winding didn't constantly shift the ground to cover the traces of your passing?

He shook his head, then lifted it to look ahead of the caravan again. His two older children we walking together, talking quietly. Temari looked rather upset, and Kankurō angry. He smiled at this. The Kazekage was _not_ a soft man; he believed that strength came from being hard, and so seeing his children like that, he believed they would be strong. Gaara, on the other hand… he was smiling in his sleep as he was carried in one of the wagons. No one was willingly to carry him, after all, fearing the Shukaku demon inside of him.

Gaara, the child that was to be his greatest triumph almost seemed to laugh in his face! The child was always wanting to play! And that darn brother in law of his, Yashamaru, was always the only one to treat him kindly. When would he stop doing that? When would Gaara learn that he was being weak? When would his plans stop toppling over before him?

.

.

.

"We gotta tell dad," Kankurō hissed at his sister. She shook her head.

"No, Kankurō, no. I keep telling you, mom didn't want dad to know. Remember, she wasn't happy with daddy last time she was home? Besides, why tell him now when we didn't tell him before?" Kankurō scowled at his older sister.

"But Temari, it's our sister!" He hissed at her. "Mom wanted up to take care of her! To do that we have to find her, so we should tell dad." Temari looked around to see how close everyone was, checking if they could hear anything the two older sand siblings were saying.

"Kankurō, you forget that mom said to do that only if we ever actually _meet_ Naruto. That means that we pretend we don't know about her for now. And besides, mom _said_ not to tell dad!" She sighed as he opened his mouth to argue again. She knew that he wanting to be a good big brother, but he didn't understand.

"Kankurō, I'm going to tell you a secret, okay?" Kankurō looked at his sister surprised, then eager.

"Yeah yeah! Tell me a secret!" Temari checked again to make sure that no one was watching or listening.

"You remember what happened to Gaara when he was born?" Kankurō nodded, shivering. "Well, _dad_ was the one who did that to him, and dad wanted to do it to Naruto-chan too!" Kankurō gasped. "Do you understand why mom doesn't want dad to know?" Small tears formed in Kankurō's eyes. He knew his sister wouldn't lie to him, but his father was his hero. He'd always been proud when people told him that he looked like his dad. But now? He wiped his eyes, trying not to cry.

"Ye-yeah, sis. You, you're right. We… we should keep it a secret. But," he said, looking up at her, "when we find her, I'm gonna be a good big brother!" Temari smiled, then roughly rubbed the hair on his head.

"Of course."

.

.

.

"You have such a beautiful little girl there, Minato," Hiruzen said. Minato smiled.

"Yes, yes she is." He smiled as the previous Hokage played with the small child in his arms. Minato felt a little guilty about not being straight forward as to what exactly had happened with how the child got there, but it was enough for now that he simply be a good friend. He'd invited several people over that morning to see his child, after him and Kushina had managed to hide all evidence of the funeral for their dead child and Karura. One day, perhaps, their graves would be marked, but it would be some time before that ever occurred. Minato looked around. There weren't too many people there, just a few anbu, Sarutobi, Kakashi and Rin. He had hoped that his sensei would be back in time for the birth, but Jiraiya was nowhere to be seen. He had left shortly before Kakashi had arrived with Karura, saying that one of his spies was uncovering something of utmost importance to Konoha's safety and left as quickly as he could. He had sent a couple reports via toad, but the past couple of days had been uninformative. He wondered if his sensei had gotten _distracted_ while he was gathering information… he chuckled before looking at the clock. This made him grunt in annoyance.

"Well everyone, I wanted to say thank-you for coming, but unfortunately Kushina needs to rest, and I need to get to the office. Some of you I expect to see back on duty by the time I arrive. Just because I had a baby is no reason for us to slack off on the work. Okay?" There were mixed groans and chuckles to his comment as the anbu dispersed. Sarutobi was looking sadly down at the little girl, as if he didn't want to go. Minato walked up to him as Hiruzen sighed.

"Well, Minato, I guess it's time I gave you back your little girl,' he said wistfully. "She is such a good child. I would that I had another, but Asuma is away and his brother just can't seem to settle down. Ahh… perhaps you would allow me to come and visit often?" Minato laughed.

"Hokage-sama, I would more than happy to have you come and visit our little girl." Hiruzen chuckled at the title that he carried from his years of tenure before Minato took over his job.

"Very good, Hokage-sama. I'm sure that I'll be here to visit shortly." The old man gave his goodbyes and walked out, hands held together behind his back as he hummed and headed to the park. The old man loved to go there and watch all the little children play. It made him feel almost as if he did have grandchildren.

Minato, meanwhile, kissed his wife and daughter good-bye and headed to the office. If only he had known what was already beginning, so far away from the village, but the danger still imminent.

.

.

.

A great fox lay resting in a forest. It had laid there for years, not caring about the world. After all, when one lives forever, why not take the pleasure in long naps? Terrorizing can be so troublesome if all you do is terrorize and destroy. The naps allow the pests to re-grow, and sometimes they can actually come up with something new and surprise the destroyer, giving them some _real_ fun!

However, this long nap would end without the chance for fun the fox had intended, for the moment he opened his eyes, having felt a nudge in his sleep, he was caught by those dark, red, sinister eyes…

"Now," a low voice said, "you are going to do a little something, kyuubi no kitsune…"

.

.

.

It started that afternoon. The sun was almost down, its light hitting the skies, turning them red. The same color as the fox. This light masked its approach as it came from the west. There was a band of shinobi on patrol there, fresh chuunin, still on a high from reaching the next level.

"So, do you think is should ask her out," one young man said to the other as they jumped from tree to tree on their patrol. He had on a bandana beneath his forehead protected. It was red. He was also wearing a pair of sunglasses that were in the shape of a nearly full moon, the full side on bottom. He was wearing an open chuunin vest with his own red shirt and black pants.

"Nah, you gotta reel her in nice and slow," said his friend. This one had a scare on his left cheek from the exams and was missing two fingers on his left hand, courtesy of a well aimed kunai. He wore the traditional garb of a Konoha chuunin, vest zipped closed. He did wear a small earring in his left ear, though. "You, these girls, they want to play hard to get, so you gotta do some reverse psychology on 'em, ya see? That way they get frustrated when their games don't work an' then they come to you 'cause yer different, and then they don't leave ya, see?" The first one laughed.

"That's the one of the most ridiculous things I've ever…" The second one turned to ask his friend why he stopped talking, only to see a great fox standing there to his side, breathing lightly, saliva falling from its jaws, and from its jaws, he saw his friends sunglasses fall.

"NOOO!" He jumped at the beast in rage. He never stood a chance. Neither did anyone else that night, and these were just the first…

.

.

.

Kushina was cooing to her daughter, rocking her back and forth as she fed her. The little girl had latched onto her mother with much enthusiasm. She was not easily sated, either. Kushina laughed at the little child's energy. She was so full of enthusiasm! Kushina was happy for her daughter, but she had gotten close to Karura over the past couple of weeks, and she wished that Karura was still here, and that both of their children had lived. _What if_, she wondered, _what if our son had lived, and Karura as well? How would things be different for our futures? Would they have fallen in love as Minato and I did? What will happen to our daughter now?_

As she sat there, contemplating, she heard, and even felt, a distant roar. Her blood ran cold with fear. She could feel the sinister chakra even from here, and shuddered, remembering one time when she came across a giant fox…

She had been a young girl, still traveling around the world with her mentor. He had taught her the ways of the shinobi and they made a small living volunteering their skills in the various villages they visited. She often dreamed of living in a real village and being part of a real hidden village, since the one that her family had been from was no longer in existence. It was sad that it had been destroyed, but she'd gotten over it. Life was full of pain, she'd realized, and the only way to live was to find joy in what you had, and let that joy over take that pain. Besides, you never lost _everything_, did you? Until you died, you always had the memories.

"Jirobo sensei, when do you think we'll come to another village? Do you think this one will have a fair?" The older man laughed. He had once been fine young man, tall and well muscled. He was not quite lean, which hid all the strength that his body still carried. His hair was white, and he pulled it back in a ponytail. He always wore a large black robe, tied with a green sash. The symbol of the whirlpool village was still large on his back. He wore a pair of loose fitting white pants to go with his shirt, and he had a katana in his belt, just in case he came across someone who actually knew how to use a sword. His face was quite wrinkled now, his eyebrows creased as if he were a severe man, but Kushina knew him to be quite congenial.

Kushina, on the other hand, was a young ten year old. She had been around five when the whirlpool village was attacked and her now mentor had taken her away. He had been god father to her mother, and while her mother stayed behind to cover the flight of many of the village, she'd made the man promise to take Kushina to safety. So he had, and five years later Kushina was well skilled for her age, and quite the tom-boy. Every town they visited she'd want to wrestle with the local boys. Some actually made the mistake of taking her for a guy. They'd soon found themselves on the ground wondering if they'd ever been able to have children themselves.

At this point in life, she'd favored a brilliant red shirt with the whirlpool symbol on the back. She'd taken an odd choice on her shirt, though, when she made her right sleeve a little short and the left sleeve nearly full length. However, she used to exposed area on her arm to put a holster for a dagger she had from home. She used it whenever she got into close combat. One of her few memories of her mother was of her fighting with a similar dagger. She wore a pair of brilliant green shorts to match, her pouch with her ninja gear hanging on her left side while her kunai holster sat on her right leg, just above the knee, both of which were covered with strong metal guards down to her ankle. She also had a guard hidden under the sleeve on her left arm, but it was well disguised by the loose cloth. She finished her outfit by wearing a bandana as a headband with a makeshift piece of metal to show that she was from the whirlpool country. The headband was green as well and only functioned to keep her hair out of her eyes, which hair fell down loosely to her shoulder blades.

"Well," she asked. "When's the next village sensei?"

"I don't know, Kushina-chan, but when we find it, we'll find it."

"Ah, come on! That's no fun! I wanna get to another village _now!_"

"Calm down, Kushina, calm down," he said, lazily waving his hands in the air, holding back his laughter at her enthused antics. "I promise, we'll cut loose in the next village but for now-" He froze before he finished speaking, though, feeling an oppressive aura in the trees around him. Kushina, due to her exuberance, hadn't noticed it yet.

"Huh? Sensei? What's up? Why'd you stop? What are you-" He gave her a silencing motion, putting a finger to his lips with a completely serious look on his face. The little girl immediately stopped talking, reaching for her dagger and looking around. When Jirobo acted like that, she knew he was actually serious. He'd only done this as a joke once and swore he'd never do it again when she pranked him with squirrels in his sleeping bag that night. He motioned with his fingers and the two of them took to the trees as silently as possible. He motioned with their personalized signs that they would investigate and then back off. Kushina was wondering what he was talking about investigating, then as they got closer to the source, she could feel the oppressive and sinister energy radiating from a direction that had been off to their right a little while ago.

Some minutes later she was working hard not to shake. They had traveled a few miles, and the aura got more oppressive with each leap through the trees. Jirobo was only doing a little better, and that was because of his years of experience. Finally, though, they reached a break in the trees and gasped. There, in a clearing created most unnaturally, lay the body of a gigantic fox. It was snarling in its sleep, pawing at the air as if mauling something.

As cautiously as they had come, Jirobo motioned for them to leave as quickly as possible, the greatest fear ever known seen in his eyes. It was an hour later that they finally landed on a forest floor, panting and sweating, completely out of breath.

"Ji, Ji, Jirobo sensei, wha-wha-what was that?" Kushina gasped. Jirobo took a moment to get his breath.

"Kushina chan, you remember any stories of the sage of six paths?" Kushina nodded, still trying to get her breath back. "Well, Kushina, the sage of six paths once faced off against a great demon with ten tails. He was powerful monster, bent on mankind's destruction. However, the sage defeated him and placed the demon into himself to protect the world from his power since it is impossible to actually kill a demon.

"Many years later, he died, but before dying, he separated the demon into nine parts so that it would be possible for others to control them and keep mankind from utter destruction. Each one had a different form, and a different amount of power, shown by the number of tails they had. The greatest of these was the nine tailed fox," he said, "which we just happened across as it was taking a nap." Kushina shivered, the reality of the gravity of their situation falling upon her.

"I hope I never come across that thing again! It felt so… _evil_." Jirobo nodded, then stood up straight and they headed for the next village. It would be Konoha, the place they would be welcomed as visitors, but remain in as family.

Now, so many years later, Kushina's worst nightmares were coming true. She remained in her home for a good while, hoping that the feelings she was having where not that great beast, but soon, more roars confirmed it. The kyuubi was attacking her home. She looked down at the child in her arms. Was this all that was left for the child? To be killed in the day of its birth? She stood, placing her daughter in its crib. She had grown much since that day, and she remembered her sensei's story. It was possible to defeat this beast, she knew, and to protect her home and her daughter, she was going to fight and find a way to subdue this creature.

.

.

.

Minato was frantic. The Kyuubi had appeared as if out of nowhere! It was now ravaging the outskirts of the village. The genin were already evacuating the village, and the anbu were heading up the defense. He had hoped for a counter attack, but really all they could do was attack the creature in an attempt to distract it. They had not other chance to survive. So many had already died!

Minato looked back down at his scrolls. He was searching for a way to defeat this monster, but so far he had only once chance against the kyuubi, strongest of the tailed beasts. If only someone had come across it will it was asleep! Then they might have had a chance with some of these other seals and techniques, but it was looking more and more like he only had the one choices left. Then suddenly a squad of Anbu appeared in his office. He looked up in surprise.

"What is it? What's happened?" The captain spoke.

"Hokage-sama, your wife has been spotted in the attack force!" Minato gasped.

"She _what_?" He looked down frantically at all his work. He had to find a way… but his wife! And where was Naruto? He looked back up, sighing. "Well come on," he said, leaping running to then leaping through the window. He didn't have any more time, and his wife's life was on the line. He would lose his life as it was. There had been no other way that he could find. He didn't want to leave their child without a parent. He needed to think about that, too, though…

.

.

.

"Rin! Look out!" Run jumped to the side as a huge tail came slamming down. Kakashi ran over to grab her, pulling her away from body that she'd been working to heal. There were wounded everywhere, some only a little, some well on their way to death. Few were brave enough to venture near them besides Rin. It had taken her some time to convince Kakashi to let.

"Kakashi, I have to help them! If I don't they'll die for sure!"

"But Rin, I promised Obito that I'd protect you! I have to keep you safe," he yelled as they dodged the giant tails of the nine tailed fox.

"Kakashi, I'm a med-nin! I have to help people! No one else is trying, and there are Shinobi out there dying needlessly because no one is brave enough to go help them!" Having pulled her away from the danger zone again, Kakashi grabbed her arms.

"I don't want to lose you!" He yelled. Rin's eyes got wet as she put a hand to his cheek softly.

"Kakashi-kun, I don't want to lose you either, but we have to protect our village, and the best way that I can do this is help those men and women suffering that no one else will help. Besides, I know that you'll look out for me." Kakashi's eyes were raining tears so much that one could even see the stream coming from his covered eye.

"Please, Rin, don't, don't make me do this…" Rin pulled her hand down from his cheek, pulling his mask with it, then reached in and gave him a kiss.

"Kakashi, I know you'll look out for me; you won't let me die. Besides, sensei will be here soon enough. Let me do this; I promise I'll do whatever I hear you tell me to, no matter how much I want to help someone out there." Kakashi sighed, then pulled his mask back up, and lifted his headband.

"Alright Rin, but you better not die!" Rin gave a chuckle.

"I promise, I won't. And I'll even swear that I'll give you a really nice…_gift_ after this is all over and we get back to the village. Okay?" Kakashi nodded then they both ran back into the fight. And so there they were, Kakashi trying to keep the Kyuubi's attention from shifting the small woman beneath it, healing it's not yet dead victims, and keeping an eye out for her at the same time. True to her word, Rin never disobeyed him, always moving at the exact moment he told her to. She soon began healing with one hand while gripping the people she was healing with the other so that she could still keep healing them.

"Left Rin! Left!" Another great tail came from above and to Rin's right; she dodged left, as Kakashi had said, avoiding the tail by inches. Kakashi's breath had caught for a moment on that one. He breathed a sigh of relief at the near miss.

"Kakashi!" He looked over to see Rin leap towards him, pushing him down. He saw the fear in her eyes, and for a mere second time froze. She seemed to hover in the air above him, hands still pushing down on his chest, a red glow hitting her face, then there was a great whoosh of air, and she was gone. His eye still caught it all. He saw her body impact with another tail he had missed when he bowed his head to sigh in relief moments ago. Her body had flipped over, her head facing down, pain evident over her whole face, then she was passing through the hair till the tail reached an apex, and she was flying, and then gone. Kakashi lay there for a moment in shock.

"Obito," he whispered, "I, I failed us all…" Tears in his eyes, sobs racking his body, he couldn't make out the face of the person who picked him.

"Kakashi, now's not the time! We still have people to save!" He couldn't recognize the voice, either, but he felt himself get lifted up and carried a little ways away from the carnage to be laid against a tree.

"Kakashi! Kakashi!"

"She's gone," he sobbed, "She's gone! I, I couldn't protect her! I, I, I failed, I-"

"Kakashi, she wouldn't want you to be like this! Now get your act together and help us out again brat!" He looked at in surprise, but the figure had already leapt away to go help everyone else. He slowly stood up, wiping his eyes. He needed to push past the pain, like that person had said. After all, Rin died to protect these people. Now he had to protect them for her.

.

.

.

Minato looked out on the scene, trying to find his wife. He thought he saw a glimpse of red on the edge of the field, and rushed over to where he'd seen it. Once there he saw Kakashi leaping out into the fight. It seemed that he'd been taken out of it for a moment. But where was Kushina? He came to wish he'd never asked the question for, right before his eyes, he saw his wife slam into a tree. It broke apart, propelling her into the next tree, but not before a large branch impaled itself in her abdomen.

"Kushinaaa!" He was immediately at her side. She looked up at him in a daze.

"Minato-kun? What are you doing?" He cried over, holding her. He could already see she was dying. No one could survive such a wound. The piece of wood had an eight in diameter. If Tsunade were here… but what about Rin?  
"Kushina, you're hit really bad; do you know where Rin is?" Kushina replied in a strangely calm voice in her daze.

"No, I don't. Not her body, anyways. She was, hit with a tail. She went flying through the air…" Minato held in his howl of grief. His last chance for his wife was gone, their child would grow up without either of them… and he felt that Naruto would end up having the fate that Karura had fled Suna to avoid in the first place.

"Ku-Kushina chan, I, I don't think, that it…" Kushina looked down, wincing a little.

"Yes, I think, in know what you're going to say," she said. "I, I'm sorry, Minato-kun, but, I had to. I saw this beast, once before and I, wanted to make sure our, daughter would be safe, so I left to attack it…"

"Kushina, save your strength, please,"

"No, tell me now, Minato, can we stop it? I know I've tried to find a way out here, but you've been researching, right? Can we, defeat it?" He held onto his grief as best as he could. His eyes refused to be kind to him, tears welling up in his eyes.

"I, may have found a way, but Kushina, I can't ask anyone, anyone else to do it. I, I have to," Kushina gave him a weak punch.

"Get to the point, you lovely baka." He tried to chuckle, but failed.

"That is, the only way to stop it is to seal it, and the one who seals it will lose their life…" Kushina gasped, both from pain and shock. Fear finally came to her face.

"N-Naruto? Who will, who will take care of Naruto?" He hung his head.

"Also, the only way to seal it is into a small child, and, and I know Karura didn't want it, but how, how can I ask anyone else?" Kushina was turning pale, and now tears were streaming down her face.

"Minato-kun, why did things have to turn out like this?" She looked up at the sky, ignoring the screams and the roars. She gave him a weak push. "Go, I know how long it takes to get home. I, I'll summon you here with my, with my kunai." He looked at her in surprise.

"Why, why don't you want me to stay?" She looked at him with love in her eyes, despite the pain on her face.

"I want to hold my child one last time before they die, now hurry up or we'll never be together as, as a family again!" Minato leaped away with all urgency. As fast as he'd come to the battle field, he now rushed back home. He slowed once to summon a toad.

"Gamaken! Do what you can to help the village fight the beast," he yelled. The giant toad was a little confused, but seeing the carnage quickly leapt over. He knew that he would leave before he could be seriously injured, but if Minato was running away, that meant he needed something, so if Gamaken could even distract the beast for a few seconds, many lives would be saved.

Minato, meanwhile, reached his home, grabbing Naruto out of her crib, then began rushing back, hoping he wasn't too late. Kushina could be dead, so he needed to hurry regardless…but he suddenly found himself among the trees, Kushina across from him as he leapt. He stuck a free hand in ground, stopping himself. He leapt to his dying wife.

"Here she is, Kushina. Here she is." Kushina smiled at their sleeping baby.

"Oh, she's still asleep," she cooed. "That's right, be a good baby, Naruto-chan. Be a good girl and grow up good and strong. Don't worry, we'll be with you, and Karura chan, your other mother, too. We'll all be there to watch over you." She looked up at her husband. "Thank-you," she said, but he leaned in for one last kiss before she could finish.

"No, thank-you," he said, "for letting me love you. I, I'll see you again soon," he said quietly, not wanting to reveal what would happen to his own soul. She nodded, caressing her child's face.

"I, I know that this, this isn't what Karura chan wanted, but I, I think you're right; you couldn't ask, ask anyone else. This is, this is best," said, breathing heavily. "No go, go and hurry up; save our home!" Minato nodded. A moment later Gamabunta, who already knew what was going on due to Gamaken having already received substantial damage and returning to inform the rest of the toads.

"Minato, I hope you have a plan to fight this guy! Gamaken tells me he fights real nasty!" Minato replied sadly.

"Yes, I do, Gamabunta, but I'm afraid I'll never see you again in this life or the next. What I'm doing will seal my soul far away from where everyone else's will go." Gamabunta sighed, leaping at the great fox.

"Well that's too bad. You deserve better, but let's get this thing taken care of."

"Yes, Minato replied, voice a little stronger, let's!"

.

.

.

A few hours later the Yondaime's body was found, holding a small child with a strange seal on its belly. No one understood what had happened at first, so they took the baby to the third hokage. He was the 'professor' after all! He should know what the seal was. Meanwhile, the beloved fourth hokage was taken away and put next to his wife in a prepping area for the dead to be buried.

"Oh little Naruto, I'm so sorry," Hiruzen whispered, cradling the child in his arms. If only he'd known what was going to happen, he could have helped, but he'd been evacuated by a presumptuous genin before he even knew what was going on, having been taken during his nap. He wondered what he should tell everyone. Word would already be all around the village that a small child was found in the arms of the hokage with a strange seal on its belly. Someone would figure it out without him. They would know that the little Naruto girl was now a Jinchuuriki. Just then, someone tapped on his window. It was another white haired man…

"Jiraiya! What are you doing here?" Jiraiya came in quickly.

"No time, I have to know, is it true? Did the Kyuubi attack Konoha?" Hiruzen's head dropped.

"Yes, it's true."

"And… Minato? Sensei, what about Minato?" Hiruzen forced himself to look at his students.

"Minato and Kushina both died to protect the village," he said. "But this is their daughter, Naruto." Jiraiya's grief was momentarily forgotten as the child was placed in his arms. He could feel the same exuberance that Kushina had in abundance. It was… comforting. His head jerked back a moment.

"S-sensei! Is this what I think it is?" Hiruzen nodded as Jiraiya continued to look at the seal on the child's belly. "So, barely a dad old, and already Naruto is doomed to a life if isolation…" He chuckled grimly. "At least it looks like the girl will have her mother's attitude." He looked at his sensei once again.

"Sensei, is there anything we can do? People will hate her…" Hiruzen shrugged sadly.

"I've thought, but I haven't come up with anything yet."

"I'd take her with me," Jiraiya said, "but I don't think I'd do very good by her. I move around too much, maintaining my spy networks." He rubbed his chin, and then a light bulb went off.

"Wait a second! Sensei! You always wanted a grand kid, right?" Hiruzen looked at him in surprise.

"Well, yes, it would be nice, but,"

"Well, as Naruto's god father, I have the power to put her up for adoption, and you can adopt her as your grandchild! If you take up being Hokage again, then being part of your family will help keep her safe as she gets older!"

"But Jiraiya," the old man gasped, "what about you? Besides, shouldn't the village take a younger man, such as yourself, to be hokage?" The younger man looked at the small girl sadly. "Sensei, I never was hokage material, and I don't have the right life style to raise my student's girl. Besides, it's not like I'll never be able to come back and check on her!" Sarutobi looked down at the child as Jiraiya handed her back to him. She opened her little brilliantly blue eyes and grinned sleepily at him. He smiled.

"Yes, perhaps you're right," he said to his student. "I can take care of her. She is, after all, quite the girl, but being an old man, I'll have to find someone to take care of her in terms of her physical needs." He frowned at his student's slight lecherous look. Anyone who knew Jiraiya would know what he was thinking about now, with the mention of a child's nutrition needs, but the sannin quickly snapped back into focus.

"Of course, that's right. Hmm… maybe, for a short time, you could give it out as a missing for some of the recent shinobi mothers, and perhaps one of them will be in to taking the girl in?" Sarutobi considered.

"Perhaps, but for now, I think there's a girl my son is dating. Maybe this will get him thinking about settling down…" Jiraiya laughed.

"Perhaps, perhaps sensei." He looked down. "I just wish I'd gotten here faster. One f my spies heard about a possible bijuu attack, and I guess he was right." Sarutobi's eyes snapped up.

"What! This was planned?" Jiraiya looked up.

"Yes." Hiruzen sat down heavily, looking at the child in his arms. She was giggling happily, trying to grab onto his beard and tug it.

"Oh Kami, please, help us all…Oh Naruto…"

**Not too much on the sand sibs this chapter, but next chapter will probably start with them. We'll be doing our first major time skip(s) next chapter. Also, i'd like ideas on who raises Naruto. Obviously she'll be granddaughter to Sarutobi, but old men just don't make up a childs everyday nutritional needs and such! So, i have a couple of ideas, but i'd like yours as well.**

**Also, again, please don't kill me about Rin. Please! I didn't like doing that to her, either, but things will work out how they will work out...**

**Anyways, like i said, i added in that part to give Kushina a reason, thought i didn't reveal that reason earlier b/c i didn't want to give a spoiler. As you probably figured out, it was to give her a reason to go face the Kyuubi and leave Naruto behind. I mean, i hate to say it because it makes sound cruel and all, but she had to die. I know i know! I already beat up Rin, but did i have to do Kushina to, right? Well, that's just the way it works sometimes. Sorry... :(**

**One last thing, if you read previous chapters, you may see where i've hinted slightly to something no being exactly how I've implied it to be. I don't really know why i'm even trying to make you guys guess it, but there is a part written that isn't as it appears. If you think you know what it is, feel free to leave a review. If you're right, i'll tell you under the stipulation that you promise not to tell anyone else what it is.**

**Well, it'll be a few days before i actually manage to post this, so in the meantime, i hope you have/had a good memorial day weekend, and i also hope you have a great rest of your day/night!**

**Have any questions? Then leave a review or PM me and i'll do what i can to answer it.**


	5. What Becomes of a Child

**Well, it's good to be back, i must say! Thank-you to all my readers who have waited so patiently for me to get back to writing. I should be able to update every week or two. I promise that it will be a rare exception when it takes longer than that for me to update!**

**So, on this chapter, i apologize for it being a little shorter than normal, but it's kind of a transitory chapter where a lot of time-skip occurs so most of it will be summary, unlike my normal chapters. It will help set the mood for some of the chapters that follow without going into details of Naruto's younger years. I think this chapter is _okay_, but not nessecarily the best; still, it felt like the best _way_ to do what i wanted to do.**

**So, i hope ya'll enjoy the new chapter. Next chapter should be back to normal! Enjoy!**

**disclaimer- i do NOT own Naruto**

The day was just starting. It was bright and clear, barely a cloud in the sky. However, there was little of happiness in the village of Konoha. Many lives had been lost, many families and loved ones torn asunder. A fair portion of the village had been destroyed where part of the wall had been knocked down, and the villages beloved fourth Hokage had been killed by the attack, along with his wife. Most of the village had known that Kushina had been pregnant, but no one seemed to know what had happened to their child; most assumed that Kushina had died before giving birth, the child trapped in her womb when she was mutilated by the nine tailed fox. So, it was with a heavy heart that the village attended the ceremony to reinstate Hiruzen, the third Hokage, as the acting Hokage of Konohagakure.

"Good people of Konoha, it has been sad day for us all. Namikaze Minato and his wife Kushina, along with many others, died last night when the Kyuubi attacked our village. We may never know why this happened, and it saddens me that I must take his place as Hokage once more, but Minato gave his life to save us all, so we need to remember this and understand his sacrifice." It was then that the sannin Jiraiya walked forward, a bundle in his arms that he cared very carefully. He handed the bundle to Sarutobi who cradled it for a moment, gently rubbing the little child's face with a finger and cooing at it as it laughed and grabbed his finger.

"Citizens, shinobi, all those of Konoha, the Yondaime gave his life to seal away the kyuubi inside this young child so that it can no longer harm us. I understand the resentment that many of you may feel for the kyuubi, but rest assured, this child is only a _jailor_, and not the kyuubi itself self." A cry had slowly risen as he spoke that contained all the anger, hate, and frustration that was felt at the loss of so many loved ones. The cries to take action against the child began to rise more and more and Hiruzen hung his head sadly. If the hate was so great despite his words he could not trust them too greatly to help him care for the child; still, he could provide the girl with some degree of safety.

"Very well," he called out, his face and stance strong, his voice booming. It caused a momentary lull in the crowd. It seemed he was just in time as Jiraiya's fists had begun to clench. He almost thought it was a good thing that Tsunade wasn't here; her temper was even worse than Jiraiya's. He would need her to return eventually, though… "Very well," he said again as the noise continued to fall, "I understand, as I said before, your resentment, but I do this to show _my_ confidence in what the Yondaime has done: this child, who shall henceforth be known as Uzumaki Naruto, shall be a part of my household! I shall live with her and she shall be known as my granddaughter. If any harm befalls her, the doer shall answer to me personally. In addition, I decree a new law, than no one is to speak of her as the container of the Kyuubi in any fashion. The story is that the fourth _killed_ the fox. This shall be a village secret punishable by death if it is revealed." He looked over the crowd.

"I assure you, I shall otherwise be the same Hokage who always led you before, only in this matter shall I seem so harsh. You are my people; rest assured knowing that, as always, I shall do all in my power to protect this village. Konoha, though hurt, shall rise again from the ashes of this tragedy, and we shall still be strong! Now, let us rebuild our village! Let the will of fire burn within us! Let us show the world that not even the attack of the Kyuubi can weak us, the people of Konoha!" This allowed the people of Konoha to recover somewhat from their mixed feelings about the Kyuubi child, and it was a much more energized village that went about the rebuilding of their village.

"Oh Naruto, I'm so sorry, but things will be very hard for you," Hiruzen said to the child in his arms.

"Hmph, no kidding. I had half a mind to go out there and knock a few heads," Jiraiya said. He folded his arms as he walked to stand next to his sensei. "So," he said, watching as the crowd dispersed, "why didn't you tell them she was Minato's daughter? I assumed you had a reason, so I didn't say anything, but I want to know why it is I kept my mouth shut." Hiruzen sighed. Naruto was yawning and falling asleep. He was just glad it wasn't time to change her diaper; so far she'd proven to be a very energetic baby, and messy. A grandpa wasn't made for changing diapers, he'd decided, so he was looking forward to getting someone else to help him take care of it. For now, of course, he needed to answer Jiraiya's question.

"Jiraiya, after we talked last night about what to do, I realized something; no one can know who Naruto's parents are beyond those who already know. Think about it; how many enemies did her father have?" Jiraiya winced. Especially heading a spy network he was _very_ well aware of the sentiments in Iwa especially concerning Minato.

"So what you're saying is that without him around, and the village in its current condition, Minato's enemies might try to kill Naruto to take out their resentment on her instead, eh?" Hiruzen nodded, causing Jiraiya to sigh and look up into the sky. "There really is too much hate in this world, sensei. I wish… I wish I could do something to stop it…" Hiruzen turned and clapped a free hand on his old students shoulder.

"Don't worry my boy; one day, one day I'm sure you'll find the answer." His smile seemed to have the desired effect and Jiraiya laughed before leaning over to gaze at his god-child.

"She's so beautiful. She's gonna be a heart breaker one day sensei!" Hiruzen laughed.

"We'll see, we'll see. Mean while, I need to find someone to change her diaper for me!" Jiraiya nodded.

"Yeah, and I need to track down everyone who knows about Naruto's parentage and tell them to keep their knowledge secret." Hiruzen nodded.

"I believe I made a note in my journal about who was there; we'll take a look at it now and you can tell them before you leave about it. You'll be back to visit the girl soon, right?" Jiraiya gave a thumbs up and smiled.

"Of course, sensei! After all, I'm her god father!" Hiruzen nodded

"Good; now let's get moving…"

.

.

.

Out of many of the ones left saddened by the loss of loved ones was one Uchiha Mikoto. She had been a close friend of the Namikazes, especially Kushina. She missed her friend dearly, and she had so wanted their children to grow up being friends. She had almost missed the ceremony for reinstating Hiruzen until she thought how Kushina would have wanted her to be there. So it was that she was working her way through the crowd when the Hokage held up the child, announcing it as the container of the nine tails. At first, she felt the same anger fill her that filled many of those around her, and it was this that caused her sharingan to activate, but the clearer vision that it granted made her gasp, her anger forgotten.

That child in the hokage's arms… her blond hair was so much like Minato's…and Kushina _had_ been pregnant, due any day before the day of her death…could it really be? Could it be that they had sealed the kyuubi into their own child?

Mikoto continued to push closer, hoping to ask the hokage about this, and straining to hear over the crowd as they began to disperse, she managed to catch Jiraiya-sama saying one thing: "After all, I'm her god father!" She gasped, a few tears coming into her eyes, collapsing to the ground. She felt ashamed. She had blamed that poor child for the death of her friends, and it was her own friend's child! Surely they would not have sealed the kyuubi into their child unless they were sure it was safe. No, it was safe, the girl was safe, and even better, she would be cared for.

Mikoto looked up again to see the Hokage and he sannin walking away, still in deep conversation. She thought for a few moments and decided that they must have wanted it secret who the girl's parents were for some reason. Fine, she would keep it secret, but she would watch over that girl as much as she could, and one day she would make sure that her son became friends with…Naruto, Hokage-sama had said. Yes, that was what Kushina had said they wanted to name their child.

She smiled. Wouldn't it be funny if instead of just friends, they became more? However, she never suspected that she would die before she properly tried to get the two together. Having been on such great terms with the last Hokage and his wife, how could she have ever expected what her clan would try to do just a few years down the road…

.

.

.

Kakashi didn't spend too much time at the ceremony. He was surprised to say the least at little Naruto now being the jinchuuriki to the kyuubi. However, he didn't really feel like reacting. In fact, he wasn't feeling much at all today. He had lost Rin, the woman he had grown to love, and he had failed in his promise to Obito to protect her. He looked over from the rooftop his was sitting on. He was the only one who knew about Naruto, now, the daughter of Karura, as well as the Hokage and his wife. At least she would be okay, he's decided. Hokage-sama would be looking after her.

Kakashi stood. For now, he didn't really feel like doing anything. He knew that was stupid; he knew he should look after the girl, but for now it was too painful. Rin and him and spent alot of time together right before the child was born; in fact, that little girl was part of the reason they had been spending so much time together. It also reminded him of losing his sensei, and Kushina, and even Karura, even though they hadn't been as close. Maybe one day he'd be able to look at her without this pain filling him up, but for now, he needed to go talk to Obito...

.

.

.

"Say _what_ dad? You want Youriche to help you with that kyu, I mean, um, kid you told everyone about?" Hiruzen massaged his temples.

"Yes, I do. I thought it would be good to at least keep it _close_ to within the family, and your mother, even if she were alive right now, would have been too old, so the first person I thought of that I could trust was your girl friend." Hiruzen's son rubbed his chin. He really wasn't sure if he liked this idea. After all, no one had been there when the sealing had taken place. Did they really know how strong that seal was? What if the kyuubi broke out after all?

"I don't know, dad. I mean, this seems a little sketchy to me. How do we even know that it's really safe?"

"Ugh, I told you that Jiraiya and I both examined the seal extensively. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" His son blushed slightly.

"Well pa, it's not that I don't trust you, really, but Hokage-sama and his wife were a little above everyone else in sealing, weren't they? How can you be sure?" Hiruzen stared his son down.

"So, we _lesser_ seal makers look at it and say that this seal, made a an even _better_ seal maker say it's say, and you think that this seal_ master_ wasn't able to make the seal safe for the village he was dying to protect?" His son blushed in embarrassment.

"I uh, I guess I didn't think of it that way." He scratched the back of his head. "I don't know dad. It's just, well, you know, it'd be kinda weird, don't you think, dating a girl who's takin' care of a kid?" The older Sarutobi laughed.

"Yes, that might seem odd, but then again, maybe she'll be fine. How about we ask her so you don't have to try and speak for her anymore?" The boy nodded grudgingly. As it turned out she was one of the few that had seen the little girl the way that Sarutobi had hoped everyone else would. So not only was willing to nurse the infant, but excited that she could be one to take care of the kyuubi's container, the child the yondaime imprisoned the fox into. So it was that they began to raise the child. Naruto was safe and still had some around her that did not hate her.

It also turned out to be a good thing that she had the protection of the Sarutobi name. There were many that gave dirty looks to Youriche whenever she was out with the child, and she even over heard a few drunks talk about the _things_ they would like to do to the child who killed their friends and family. She had rushed back to the Sarutobi household quickly after that.

Naruto began to walk fairly early compared to many children, and by age two she was all over the place. She even managed to run out the door on her own once before they pulled her back in, afraid of what the villagers might do to her on her own.

It was shortly before that that Hiruzen's son and Youriche got married. They began to look after Naruto as if she were their own for real. Sarutobi's son had still been a little resentful of the little girl, but she'd grown on him with her enthusiasm for life. Still, he was a shinobi and often had to leave the village; it was during one of these missions that he failed to come back. Sometime later it was reported that he'd reached his original destination safely, but in the smaller country that had contracted him it turned out that there was a large group of missing nin that were hired to take over. He had been caught in the cross fire and killed. The grief stricken Youriche had a hard time with it. She had been pregnant when he'd left, dreaming of their lives together raising their very own child of their blood. Her body was too weak when their boy came due, and she died in child birth.

Again, Naruto was left with no parents, and Jiraiya never had come back to see her, but now she was a little older and Sarutobi could look after her without too much extra help. He would occasionally ask some of the genin, and occasionally chuunin, to take a mission o baby sit her. He was surprised when Anko, Orochimaru's old apprentice, volunteered to take that mission. He had questioned her about it when she came in to volunteer. She had looked at her feet a moment, toes scuffing the ground, hands behind her back before answering. Then she looked up, and he could see pain in her eyes.

"Hokage-sama, I, I know what it's like to be alone, and for people to look down on you. When, when Orochimaru-sama, I mean, sensei, left and I was found, well, a lot of people started to really look down on me and treat me different, especially after all of the experiments that they learned he did. They, they think I helped him, that I'm no different. Naruto, she, well, I see people looking at her the same way they do at me, and I want to help her. I want her to be strong enough to resist that pain when she comes to realize what it is they're doing to her." Hiruzen nodded hands together and elbows on his desk. He had heard that some of the villagers were treating her like that, but it wasn't often those reports made their way to him. Many of his shinobi also felt betrayed by their former comrade, he realized, and likely felt Anko deserved some punishment for her sensei's actions.

"Very well," he said, smiling. "I'll grant your request. You may take the mission, but make sure that you keep my granddaughter safe." Anko bowed, thanking him and began to dart towards the door.

"You do, of course, realize that some of these days you'll also be looking after my _grandson_, Konohamaru?" Anko grimaced, but nodded.

"Yeah; I'll take care of him good too, but for me, the important one is that Naruto girl." Hiruzen nodded.

"Very well, but for the first few days I'll have someone helping you out. After all, I don't think you've had too much experience with kids yet, have you?" She blushed and shook her head, but he just shrugged.

"Oh, don't worry about it, that's fine. I just need to make sure that there's someone there to teach you about proper baby care and also nutrition for a girl that age, which does not include huge amount of dango, I might add." Again Anko grimaced.

"Hai, Hokage-sama. Whatever you say, as long as I can be there for her."

"Very well; head over to my house with the mission scroll and I'll find someone to help you out."

Not long after, Anko became almost the express caretaker of young Naruto up until she entered the academy. She began training her in weapons use at age six so that she was well versed in the basics, but best of all, Naruto's spirit taught her how to prank. With Anko's experience and Naruto's ingeniousness, they became greatly feared for their ability to prank _anyone_ around, even 'old gramps' who'd almost had a heart attack when he'd opened his desk drawer to find hundreds of pop-up snakes explode at him (realistic-ness courtesy of Anko's experience with snakes). And so, it was a very happy Naruto that entered the ninja academy at age nine, never knowing about the creature inside her…

**Alright, time skip complete! A couple points in here were inspired by the original story, such as Naruto looking at Anko as a sister, but i needed a reason for her to do so, which the first story didn't do. Also, that story is no longer posted so no one will be able to compare the two anymore. *shrugs***

**Oh, also, i have NO idea what the name of Konohamaru's parents are. Is there anyone out there that does? I didn't want tot use false names if the were, but as you could see, i kinda compromised but not naming his dad, though still naming his mom. If anyone knows, please notify me; the sooner i knew whether or not their names are contained anywhere at all or not, the sooner i can go back and tweak those parts so it doesn't feel so awkward reading about Hiruzen's son.**

**As always, thank-you very much for reading my story. Hope you enjoy and if you have the time, please post a quick review! Have a nice week!**


	6. Pranking with Imotochan

**Wow, i was almost late getting this one up! One more day and it would have been more than 2 weeks! yikes...i _really_ need to get better at setting aside time to write.. ugh.**

**Anyways, the story now continues, picking up the day before exams! In this chapter you'll mostly see a bit on how Naruto and her 'sister' interact now, and also starting to set up what I think is a nice pairing. Also fun to write was the third melting to Naruto...heheh. Oh jii-san...**

**Anyways, a day of pranks and a ramen fight! Let's go!**

**disclaimer: blah blah blah, see previous chapters. :)**

"Five more minutes…" Naruto was sleeping in her bed in her arms curled around the pillow, drool pooling where her mouth was open. Of course, a moment later her whole pillow was soaking as a pail of water was thrown in her face.

"BLUAWAAAH!" She jumped up, spiting water out of her mouth and frantically trying to shield off more attacks as someone else was laughing hysterically at her.

"MWAHAHAHAHAH! Oh, that was good Naruto-chan! Oh, that was good! You should have seen your face!" Anko was standing there, tears streaming down her face as she laughed at the look on her 'imoto' chan's face, which was quickly turning from shock to anger.

"Anko-chaaaaan!" She jumped up and tackled the older woman and a tickle fight ensued, lasting for about fifteen seconds before Naruto was crying 'uncle'. Anko had no mercy.

"A-Anko-c-chan! Anko-ch-chan! I-I give! I g-give! WAHAHAHA!"

"Ah, but you attacked _me_ you little brat! Now you must pay! Take this! Ahaha! And _that_! Yeah!"

"P-p-please, hahah! C-come on! I, I, I gotta pee!" With that Anko jumped right up, dumping the blond girl on the floor.

"Not on me you don't!"

"HAAHAA-HAAHAA, haaaa…." Naruto took a moment to calm down before she slowly sat up, rubbing her head and wiping her eyes. "Man, Anko-chan, did you _really_ have to use the water pail?" Anko smirk

"Hey, at least it's not molasses, like you used on _me_, I might remind you. As bad as it was to get it out of _my_ hair…" she let Naruto use her imagination. The young blond shuddered. You see, while Anko's hair was relatively short, Naruto, though several years younger, had hair that came down to her knees when she let it all out. She _would_ tie it up sometimes, usually for when they sparred at the academy, but most of the time she wore it in twin pony tails.

"Yeah… sorry about that…" Anko snorted.

"You mean you're sorry that I made you help me clean it!" Naruto acted indignant.

"Hey! How was I supposed to know that something _so_ sticky would _stick_ so well to your hair!" The two glared at each other a moment longer before they both laughed and Anko gave the small girl a hug.

"Well, anyways, good morning; now hurry up! We need to make sure you get to the academy on time today! It's the last day before exams!" Naruto frowned at the thought, then a grin came on her face.

"By the way, speaking of pranks…" Anko listened intently, then dropped her jaw at her little sister's plan.

.

.

.

Hiruzen had just been doing some calligraphy in his hobby room a few minutes ago, early as it was (and avoiding paper work till the last second) but then he remembered that it was his adopted granddaughter's last day in the academy (assuming she didn't fail like she did last year…though it really _was_ Anko's fault, keeping her up all night partying like that. Poor Naruto had fallen asleep standing up!

So, there he was, whistling as he walked down the corridor on the mountain side of the building to review his list of possible graduation presents he'd thought of giving her. It was while he was doing this that he glanced out a window at the mountain, thinking of his past successor, Minato, and whether he would be happy with how Naruto was growing up…then he did a double and stared out the window before covering his eyes with his hand.

"Oh Naruto…please tell me this was Anko's idea…"

.

.

.

"WHEEE! Hahaha! You can't catch me! Give it up!" the blond girl, pony tails flowing behind her, was running away from two uniformly dressed chuunin. She, however, was wearing a very different set of clothes. She wore an orange skirt that was long on the left side and short on right, where she kept her leg holster. She wore an orange shirt as well, with a small blue stripe on each side of the front, pointing diagonally down and to her side for about five inches from the collar bone. Her two sleeves were blue colored, however, as was a small bow that she had tied about half way up her wait. Of course this made her rather east to follow… or so the chuunin thought.

"Naruto! You've really done it this time!" "

"Not even Anko will support you _this_ time you little brat!"

"Ah come on! You're just jealous that I can do it and you can't! Come on! Try a little harder to catch me!" So the chase continued as Naruto lead them all around the village.

"Narutoo!"

"HAHAHA!" Then she landed by a fence and seemed to jump away, the two chuunin following after. However, Naruto had been pulling pranks for so long that she'd learned very well how to cast an optical illusion, and instead, a second after they jumped away, a part of the fence became rather cloth like, and then Naruto lowered the camouflage and smirk at the still chasing chuunin.

"Hehehehe; idiots." She never even sensed the presence of her teacher as he leaned down to yell in her ear.

"OH YEAH NARUTO!"

"WAAAAH!" She flew up in the air, waving her arms around before falling on her rear and staring up at her sensei. "Iruka sensei! What are _you_ doing here?" he leaned over to point at her.

"No, the question is what are you doing here; you're supposed to be in-"

"Oh my, Iruka!" A sultry voice drifted over to Iruka's ear as Anko sauntered up behind him, leaning over to wrap her arms around his neck.

"Oh Iruka, how_ever_ did you manage to catch my little Naruto-chan? _No one_ else was able to. Hmmm, maybe you can, stop by my place and tell me over some dango?" She licked Iruka's cheek as he broke out in a sweat; Anko then slid one of her arms down to wrap it around his chest, drawing circles on it. "I'd be _ever_ so _grateful…_" A small trickle of blood came out of the teacher's nose.

"I um, that is I, uh, well…" It was then that Iruka noticed that Naruto had disappeared… and then he realized that Anko was in league with the little trickster and, stealing his resolve, gathering his courage, he made his move.

"I need to get to class, NOW!" And he wrentched himself free, leaving a laughing, yet oddly blushing, Anko in the street.

"Offer's still open, _sensei_!" He shuddered and kept going, not satisfied until Anko's laughed faded away.

_Whew, close call_ he thought. _Now, where could Naruto be?_

.

.

.

"Ah, that was good," Anko said, pulling a microphone down from behind her ear. "So, you little brat, are you back in school yet?" There was a crackle on the other end.

"Of course Anko-chan! Well… _almost_. I can't exactly talk with you while I'm in the classroom now, can I?" Anko chuckled.

"Of course."

"So, was Iruka's reaction worth it?" Anko blushed slightly.

"OOOOh, yes, Naruto, ooooh yes…"

.

.

.

Naruto wiped her sweat off with a cloth from her bag before stepping into the classroom. The rest of the class was idely hanging out in the teachers absence. Naruto smirked at how she and Anko had thought ahead like that. No matter how _hard_ they tried, they never did manage to catch her… except Iruka sensei. Yeah, he was a tough one to trick. Maybe it was because he'd been around kids for so long…

Naruto shrugged as she started to walk over to a free seat. It was next to her friend Hinata. Out of all the other girls in the class, she was only one that wasn't annoying. All the other girls were always screaming about Sasuke, the brooding Uchiha guy. Naruto had met him, sort of, before the academy once, just after his family had died. He'd seemed like a nice kid, and she could feel how lonely he was. She'd felt like that too, sometimes, especially when Jii-san was really busy and the genin that were supposed to baby sit her ignored her. She'd thought they could be friends, but then someone else took him in and she was never really able to talk with him again till the academy, and by then he'd become all dark and brooding… she hated it, so she hung out with someone else.

"Hey Hinata! What's up?" Hinata smiled as she looked up from her book she was reading. It looked like a class book. She always seemed to be studying in class.

"Naruto-chan. It's good to see you in class. How was your morning?" Naruto grinned.

"Heheh; me an' Anko chan pulled a _good_ one today," she boasted, a couple of the other kids leaning in to hear more. They'd heard a little, but no one was sure if she'd really done what they'd heard she'd done. It just didn't seem possible to get away with something like that! "We painted the hokage faces!"

"WHAT! Seriosly? Man Naruto, for a girl, you're pretty gutsy." That was Inuzuka Kiba. He was a crazy kid, though a little weird. He always wore a jacket, no matter what the weather was (then again, so did Hinata, though her's was a light tan color and his was more of a dark grey), and he was always sniffing things. Naruto could kind of understand it, since he did have his dog and they were a team, but then again, it's creepy for a guy to always talk about how you smell foxy. She shuddered about the many times he'd flirted with her. He just really wasn't her type, but at least he was good friend. However, that last line couldn't go untouched.

"Hey! What do you mean for a girl, eh? Just because you're a guy doesn't mean anything!" Kiba laughed.

"Ah, come on Naruto, it was a compliment! Most girls are really sissy, you gotta admit. I mean, look at Ino and Sakura!" Naruto's eye twitched at the thought of the banshees. Kiba might have a point, but this was about the principle of the matter.

"Well, well, well so what! I still say being a guy doesn't mean nothin'. Look at Anko chan! She's got more guts than _any_ guy in the village! Most of them are scared like crap when she's around!" Kiba chuckled.

"Alright, you've got a point there, Naruto, so hey, let's just forget about it and say you're one gusty girl, eh?" Naruto smiled and stuck out a hand to shake his.

"Deal!"

"How about, to replace what you two are forgetting, we _remember_ that Naruto is late!" Naruto, Kiba, and Hinata all jumped as Iruka leaned down and yelled at them.

"AH! Iruka sensei!" Naruto yelled as Kiba jumped back to his seat. "When did you get here?" He smirked.

"What, did you really think I didn't know you better than that? You _always_ do the thing people expect less. You probably hoped that after you, eh… gave me the slip," he said, muttering the last part, "that I'd look all around the village for you while you were sitting here in class! Well, no maam! Seeing as that would have wasted my time most, I knew you're be here." Naruto smiled, scratching the back of her head.

"Heheh; guess you got me good there, sensei." Her eye's sparkled evily and Iruka's eyes widened as he wondered what she was about to do. "Speaking of _good_, though, how was it with Anko chan-"

"SHUT UP!" Unfortunatly, that was one of the worst spots to cut her off, and the whole class started howling with laughter. Iruka's eyebrow twitched.

"Alright then, since you missed it, Naruto, everyone is reviewing the transformation jutsu!"

"AAHHHH!"

A few minutes later (after having to endure a few people complaining to her [and listening to the pink banshee yelling to Sasuke about seeing how awesome she did at the transformation jutsu]) it was Naruto's turn. She steped forward, another evil grin on her face. Just a split second before she transformed Iruka yelled.

"No!" But it was too late. There was a poof of smoke, and when it cleared, there was a _violet _haired girl standing in the middle of strategic smoke covering, a few snake tattoos winding around her arms and torso. "Ah, ah, AAAHHH!" Iruka fountained from his face as he saw the body of a nude Anko before him; it was made even worse for him due to the earlier part of the morning.

"HAHAHA! Gotcha ya! That was my sexy jutsu, Anko style!" Expecting to get called out, she quickly stuffed in some ear plugs… then realized that Iruka was just laying there, twitching. "Wow… that worked better than expected," she said, leaning over him.

"Um, Naruto-chan?"

"Hmmm?"

"Um… do you really think that was a good idea?" Naruto laughed as she turned towards Hinata.

"Aw come on! It was just for a laugh! Besides, I…why are all the guys fainted?"

.

.

.

Hiruzen was staring down the one of his worst enemies. It was the same one that had haunted him from years. Yes, it _had_ done some good things for him here and there, and he could thank it for getting Naruto out of many situations, but still…ugh, paper work.

The old hokage wanted to beat his head into the wall as he looked at the paper work containing complaints for the vandalization of the hokage monument, and an unfilled cleaning mission sheet. The genin that got _that_ one wouldn't like it. Nope, not at all. Just then, the door to his office opened, and he smile, thinking to escape from his nightmare, if only for a moment. Then he realized it was Iruka and Naruto.

"Jii-san!" Naruto ran up and jumped the old man, hugging his torso with both her arms and legs. He tried to scowl down at her, but she had a most unusual power over him, and soon he was simply chuckling as he hugged her back and patted her head.

"Now, Naruto, what have you been up to today?" She smiled at him.

"We played a prank on Iruka sensei today jii-san!" Sarutobi raised an eyebrow as he looked up to gaze at Iruka, who was now blushing quite red and coughing.

"Really? So, what did Anko do to him?" Naruto smirked.

"She made him-"

"Hokage-sama! The details are not important, but we really MUST do something about her painting the hokage's faces, _yours_ included." Sarutobi frowned as he recalled that even _he_ had not been spared the paint and Naruto grimaced. Soon she was trying her best to look as innocent as possible as he stared down at her. Unfortunately, it seemed her 'cute' power had run out…

"Well, Naruto, since you put the paint up there, you ought to be able to take it back off, don't you think?"

"AHHH! Jii-saaaaan!" Hiruzen looked up to avoid her puppy eyes; he almost always melted at those, but it was only fair that she clean her mess… especially since she hadn't spared _his_ face, either.

"Iruka, have someone sent out to find Anko; she'll assist, seeing as how she helped put it up there." He could have sworn that Iruka shivered as he was told this, but he complied and dragged a pleading Naruto out of the office to start cleaning the mess she'd made earlier. As soon as the door closed the old Hokage breathed out a sigh of relief and slouched down in his chair.

"Whew, that was close. I almost gave in to her…" He sighed. She was every bit as spunky as her mother, but she looked much more like her father. He frowned. He never could figure out which one of them she got her nose and mouth from, though…oh well, such mysteries didn't matter. He had picked out a present for her that he thought she'd like so when she graduated tomorrow she might forgive him for making her clean up.

.

.

.

"Man, this sucks!"

"Yeah, tell me about it," the purple haired shinobi said out of the side of her mouth. Currently there was the residue of a stick of dango there, so she had to work a little bit to talk around it. "I mean, come on! _You_ were the one who actually did it! I just had to run interference for you!" Naruto glared at her.

"Anko-chan helped with the designs, as I recall," she muttered. "And besides, you were feasting on dango later while _I _had to do school!" Anko smirked and tousled the blonds' hair.

"Hey, school's good for you, kid, don't you think so Iruka?" Iruka looked up at the sky from his viewing spot above the two where he had also had extra cleaning supplies, should they need them.

"Humf; of course it is, why do you think I teach!" Anko put a finger to her lips and made a flirty face.

"Oh Iruka sensei…" He made the mistake of looking down as she spoke.

"Oh don't you think you could help us out?"

"AH!" He jumped back up the monument a few feet before he felt he was safe, hiding behind a boulder.

"I, uh, I think I'm good here," he said. "Just remember, you're not going home until you get every last drop of paint!" Naruto moaned.

"Ah, come on Iruka sensei! It's exams tomorrow!"

"Well then you better hurry up!" Naruto began to mumble about how all teachers were stupid while Anko glared up at the rock Iruka was hiding behind. He had covered his face, though, at Naruto's mutters, and was too far away to feel Anko's killing intent. It was only a few seconds before he spoke up, though.

"Hey Naruto!" the young girl looked up with an angry face.

"What is it now, Iruka-sensei?"

"Well, I was thinking, maybe after you get this cleaned up, I can take you out for some ramen, you know, the good stuff. What do you say?" Looking down at Naruto he saw a huge grin on her face.

"Alright! Now that's some serious motivation! I'll have this thing cleaned in no time!" Anko and Iruka, the former of whom finally had her glare taken off the teacher, watched in amazement at the speed and power with which the girl was cleaning. What did all that energy come from? Then Anko got an evil smile on her face.

"Go out for ramen later, huh?"

"Um, yeah, that's uh, that's the idea." She smirked. Gotach ya!

"Alright, we'll call it a date and treat the brat at the same time!" Iruka almost fell off the mountain in shock, and the two girls laughed at his twitching form for several minutes before he regained control of himself and, once again, scurried away from the feared Anko.

.

.

.

"Aaahh… now that's good stuff," Iruka said as he tasted his first bit of ramen.

"Hahah, not kidding! Man, I love this stuff sensei!" Iruka laughed.

"Glad you like it… hey!" Iruka had caught a glimpse of someone else taking some of his ramen out of the corner of his eye. He turned just in time to see a smirking Anko slurp up some of _his_ noodles. "What was that for?" His eyes were actually glowing with anger, though Naruto continued to eat, oblivious to the killing intent beside her. Anko remained unfazed, though she was impressed that the man wasn't backing down this time.

"Well, you said it was good, and how was I to know unless I tried it?" Iruka stood, pointing outside the stand. Anko raised an eyebrow as she followed him out to see him waiting and cracking his knuckles.

"_No_ one, takes my ramen," he said. Anko grinned, licking her lips.

"Well, I suppose there's more than one way to get ramen… maybe I'll just lick it out of your wounds when we're done!"

"GRAAAHH!"

"HYAAAA!" The two shinobi charged each other, disappearing in a cloud of smoke as Naruto finished her first bowl.

"Ah, that was good, huh Iruka sen…nani?" She looked around, unable to see her teacher, or her pseudo sister for that matter, but then she caught eyes of Iruka's unfinished bowl and a hungry gleam came into her eye.

"Well, if he left it, it's fair game!" She reached over and grabbed the bowl and began downing it just as fast as the last one. Outside, the two shinobi were leaned over, panting from their little taijutsu battle.

"For a, stuffy old, teacher you're, whoo, pretty, good," Anko was saying smiling as she tried to catch her breath.

"I, could say, the same, for you, T&I, girl; I thought, you all, just, sat around, all day." They grinned at each other again and prepared to fight the second round when Iruka noticed that his bowl was gone and fell to his knees, crying and screaming.

"NOO! NARUTO! WHY?"

.

.

.

The loss of the bowl seemed to diffuse the situation, as Anko laughed her head off at someone being so silly over food (_I mean, I would never act like that over dango!_, she thought), and the two of them got new bowls since Naruto had managed to get both of theirs downed before they came back. The two were now talking amiably as Iruka questioned Naruto's choice of prank for the day.

"Well, I don't know," she said thoughtfully. "I guess that after seeing how so many people treat me without respect, no offense sensei, _(non taken)_ I wanted to do something that would show that I'm just as good as Jii-san!" She giggled. "Yup; Naruto, the next hokage! That'll be me, and then everyone will respect me like jii-san and Konohamaru otouto-san!" Iruka slurped up the noodles that had been dangling from his mouth.

"Well, that's quite ambitious, isn't it Naruto." Anko was the one to reply to Iruka first.

"Ah come on! Everyone's gotta have a dream after all, and there's kids out there with worse dreams, and even more that don't have the potential to achieve that dream, not like Naruto-chan." Iruka chuckled.

"Well, I guess I can give you that; nobody has as much drive as Naruto here…but I think we all ought to be heading home now," he said as he glanced at the time. "As I recall,_ somebody_ made Naruto stay up late last year, resulting in her not finishing the exam from lack of sleep and therefore failing." He purposefully avoided Anko's glare, which she soon gave up as a resigned sigh.

"Yeah, guess you're right; let's go, Naruto." The girl began to whine about not wanting to go to bed yet, but soon enough she was being dragged home under Anko's arm. Iruka laughed to see the girls protector from earlier in the day now manhandling her to an even _greater_ extent than he would have done to get her to class.

"Alright, good night girls," he called out, ordering a ramen to go.

"Night Iruka-kuuun!" Anko called out, making him blush again.

"Iruka sensei, please, help! You have no idea what she's capable of! Please you have to save me! She'll do terrible things!"

"Ah shut up you little brat! It's time for bed; besides, your grandpa will kill me if I keep you up late again! Now quit kicking me!"

"Not until you let go! Iruka sensei, Iruka sensei! HEEELLP!" The teacher just shook his head, grinning at his students antics.

"Sorry Naruto," he said to himself, "but from all the rumors that go around, getting on _your_ bad side is a _whole_ lot better than getting on Anko's, and I'd rather keep my voice in the bass/tenor range; I don't think I'd make a good soprano." And with that he walked off whistling to cover to cries of his student, wondering how both her, and the rest of them would do on the test the next day.

**Alright, first thing i'm sure people will complain about is Iruka's obsession with ramen being more like how Naruto ought to be and how Iruka shouldn't be like that. Well, i actually checked the data book, and Iruka's favorite food is Ichiraku Ramen, so please to bite my head off, even if i exaggerated it a bit. I was hoping you'd all find it humorous. ;)**

**next chapter we'll Naruto interacting with her adopted family a bit more, including her relationship with Konohamaru, who she's been raised with as basically a brother. Then we'll be back to the academy for some exam taking! YEAH! Story may be going a LITTLE slow right now, but soon we'll be back. I'm not sure when i'm bringing Garra back in, but it _could_ be as soon as next chapter, depending on if i get the right inspiration. It's dissapointing me that i'm not coming up with stuff for him, but maybe what i'll end up doing is a couple of chapters just for him right before the chuunin exams to get caught up. Review and tell me what you guys think, k? **

**Thanks to all of you! Look forward to hearing from you again soon!**


	7. True Feelings

**Okay, first off, I apologize for this taking so long. I've been busier than expected and I haven't been setting aside the time to write like i used to back at college. Heh; funny that. But, after the longer than normal wait, here it is. I will _try_ to keep with my old every other week schedule, but i may end going with a once a month (though i really hope NOT!)**

**Anyways, this will take care of the genin exam and subsequent graduation. However, as you may recall from the last chapter, the Hokage was thinking of a gift for naruto upon said graduation. So, what i need is for some help with ideas. I came up with something that i thought would work well, but i'm still open to ideas. So, whether you have a fanfic account or not, please leave a review with your idea after reading through the chapter, and that would be great! **

**So hey, enjoy!**

**disclaimer: blah blah blah, see previous chapters. :)**

**.**

**.**

**.**

Naruto slept rather well that night… of course, when your sister figure knocks you over the head for disrespecting her _precious _dango, you tend to go out like a light for several hours, though perhaps with a bit of a bump on your head the next morning.

This is the state that Naruto found herself in the next morning as she woke up with a pounding headache, still a bit early for her usual awakening hour, but her head wouldn't let her go back to sleep just yet.

"Oooh… man, I've gotta stop telling her that dango sucks when she's mad." Naruto yawned and then tip-toed out to kids bathroom so she could get some medicine. She was wearing her usual pajamas which were blue with orange and red flames at the bottom of the shirt and on the sides of her legs. Her hair was all over the place, however, as she hadn't gotten a chance to tie it up before bed. Even if she tended to be a klutz, she loved her hair. _That_, at least, was something that the other girls seemed to envy her about, especially since she could still fight off most of them pretty well despite it. Other girls with long hair seemed to have more trouble keeping it out of the way when fighting, but Naruto's rather wild and unpredictable style of fighting seemed to fit just fine with keeping her hair out of the way.

Naruto sighed as she got up on the counter so she could reach the top of the cabinet where jii-san kept the medicines, cursing her shortness. It had been a habit from when she and Konohamaru were smaller and always getting into things to put the pills up there, but now, even though neither of them would be stupid enough to swallow the pills inappropriately, jii-san still kept them at the highest shelf just because he was 'so used to it'.

"Ugh, this sucks." She shook her head as she took out two pills and got the faucet running, waiting till it was cold like she liked it, then took the pills. Turing out the light, she tiptoed back to her room where she found Konohamaru sitting her head bed, clutching his scarf his dad had always worn.

"Konohamaru? Are you okay?" At this the boy looked up, the tears evident in his eyes.

"Naruto nee-chan! I, um…" he looked down. "Can I sleep with you for the rest of the night?" Naruto winced.

"Dreamed about mom and dad again, huh?" He nodded and Naruto sat down next to him, putting an arm over his shoulder. "I'm sorry you never got to know them; tou-san and kaa-san were really looking forward to having you, you know." Konohamaru nodded. "I can barely remember them talking about what to name you; dad was worried about naming you after the village; he always worried about things, I think, but mom, she wanted to make sure you had the best name possible, one that no one would forget, and would always remind you of home. Did you know that?" The young boy smiled.

"Yeah, you only tell me that all the time…still," he continued, smile fading away, "still, it hurts to never know them, and especially thinking about how dad died." He shivered and Naruto held him closer.

"Shh, shh, it's alright, it's alright. I'm here for you bro, I'm here for you." After a few more minutes they crawled back under the covers of Naruto's bed, both falling right to sleep, though of course, Naruto would only get another hour or two of sleep, and soon after that Ebisu sensei would come to give Konohamaru some training… if he didn't run off to try and 'kill' jii-san again. Naruto had mostly toned him down from that, but every now and then he'd do it anyways. Still, all too soon, it seemed to Naruto, she was woken up again and had to prepare for her exam at the academy. Unfortunately, her start to the day had a rather drastic effect on her.

As she was she already had a short attention span, even though she was actually fairly gifted in her shinobi skills. She may not have been the brightest bulb, but she was just about the most clever, and her enthusiasm and 'never say die' attitude made it hard to beat her in a sparring match simply because she had to faint to stop fighting. Of course, she also had quite a bit of difficulty with chakra control, but both Jii-san and Ebisu sensei, though she could tell he didn't want to, had given her some help with that. No matter what, though, there were some basic jutsu's that always gave her trouble, but then again, she should be able to pass with the average of the tests put together. She had _almost_ passed last year, and that was with a lack of sleep, but this was _this_ year… and more distracting than a lack of sleep was thinking about the two people she had called mother and father as a small child, even if she knew her real parents had died in the kyuubi attack.

_I wish, I wish they hadn't had to die. Why did those missing nin have to be _there_ of all places?_ Naruto was simply staring at her paper, only a few questions done, not actually even registering that the paper was there at the moment. Konohamaru had made her dredge up some memories from back then. She didn't think about it much simply because it hurt to think about losing two of the people that cared about her most, when the rest of the village treated her so poorly. Yes, there were still good times, then and now, but it made it harder, for her, to think about her adopted parents since they died in such a manner as they did.

"Naruto," Iruka whispered, standing next to her desk. "The time for the test is almost up you know." Naruto jumped, hearing his voice, then registered the time and how much she had left to do.

"Aw crap!"

"SHHH!" Many in the class were still trying to finish the last few questions, and did not take well to being interrupted, but Naruto could care less as she tried to fly through the rest of the test with the few minutes that she had left. However, when the timer rang out those few precious minutes later, she had barely gotten three fourths of the way through, and she knew that several of those were either wrong or incomplete. This was _not_ turning into a good day. Iruka just sighed as he looked over her paper and she gave an embarrassed shrug.

"Alright, next is the taijutsu portion of the exam; for this section you will put into groups of four and tested by alternate instructors on your use and skill in taijutsu while _we_ grade your papers. By the time you return to this room for your ninjutsu test, we should be ready to combine your scores from the first two portions and give you your final score as each of you finishes your ninjutsu test." He looked over all of his students, hoping that they'd each do well. "Good luck," he finished, as Mizuki directed them go to the academy training ground for their taijutsu test.

Here, at least, Naruto seemed to do well. Fortunately, she was paired with Hinata and two other kids that she usually did well against, even if she never remembered their names. They were first tested on their basic stances, though of course Hinata's was based on the Hyuuga style, so they all had a separate from the other students who knew how to judge her. Hinata was hesitant at first, but Naruto gave her her usual encouraging smile and Hinata ended up doing quite well. Naruto, of course, went through the academic taijutsu forms the fastest. This made her the sloppiest, but despite the instructors remarks to the contrary, she showed that she more than made up for her lack of form with her energy and speed during the one-on-one section of the test; she beat her partner quite handily (who, incidentally, had received the most praise for a perfect stance). The hardest part here was tuning out the fan girls as they watched Sasuke fight more than they focused on their own matches. _Morons, _she thought. _What's so special about him anyways? I mean, yeah, he's okay looking, and he _is_ talented, but who wants to date a guy who only seems to have a five word vocabulary?_ It was then that her sparring partner managed to hit her in the gut. Sadly for him, especially in his gloat, this only angered Naruto to attack him full force, thus her handy win over him.

Hinata did pretty well against her partner, too, though her gentle nature kept her from ever actually delivering a finishing blow, as this was not a true combat situation. Naruto clapped her on the back telling her how good she did, which of course made the shy girl blush, happy that she had a friend who thought so highly of her.

Of course, one student was going to have to wait a day to do the ninjutsu test while he recovered from his spar with Sasuke who showed little of the mercy that Hinata, or most of the other academy students, did. Of course, all this did was cause all the girls in his fan club to squeal about how awesome and powerful he was. Then, finally it was time for the ninjutsu test.

"Alright, we've totaled all the scores with some help from you taijutsu examiners, and most of you have a good shot at passing, though some," he winced, "are going to have to really pull it through during this next section.

"So, without further adu, the final exam is on… the clone jutsu!"

_Aw man! That's my worst jutsu,_ Naruto though franticly. _If I hadn't gotten so distracted on the written portion I could still pass, but man! Why the clones?_ Hinata saw her friend beginning to panic and she reached over to put a hand on her shoulder.

"Naruto, don't worry. You're a great shinobi; you'll do fine." Naruto managed to calm down, though only on the outside. She knew she'd only ever done successful clones a few times; it was very hit and miss, and all she had lousy chakra control. Jii-san told her it was because she had a lot more chakra than most people, but it was still necessary to learn the proper chakra control if she was going to be a good shinobi and fulfill her dream to become hokage after him.

So, as the students went out one by one, her stress grew and grew. _Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man! How am I gonna _do_ this?_

"Uzumaki Naruto, it's your turn," said another instructor from the doorway. She got up, not even noticing Hinata's smile, or, fortunately, the grins of many others who hoped that she'd fail again. _Alright, _she thought, trying to breath slowly and calm herself down, _I can do this! I've done it before, I just have to do it now!_

"Alright Naruto, good luck," Iruka sensei said. She nodded, put her hands together, and channeled her chakra.

_Remember, Naruto-chan, you posses a really large amount of chakra. If you want to make sure you get a ninjutsu right, you should probably aim for putting less chakra into a jutsu than you think you need._

_Naruto-chan, thank-you for sparing with me. You're such a good friend. Just remember to slow down on some things._

_Hey brat! What did I tell you about over doing it on your jutsus!_

_Alright Naruto, good luck._

_Yeah, I can do it!_

"Clone jutsu!" Her chakra seemed to come forth in a rush, just like always, only a small stream this time…at first. Suddenly she felt her chakra output shoot up. _What? NO!_ But it was too late; the chakra had gone into the jutsu. The smoke clear an instant later, and Naruto looked to her sides to see only one clone…and a rather sickly looking one at that. _Oh crap…what happened! _She started to tear up even before Iruka bowed his head and declared: "failed." Then she looked up in surprise.

"Hey Iruka sensei, what do you say we cut her a break? I mean, according to the reports her moves _were_ good, and she did hang in there, despite the stress that you could tell she had. Besides, we all know that she really wants to become a ninja like Hokage-sama." Iruka shook his head.

"Mizuki sensei, all the other students created three substantial clones. Naruto only produced one and look at it; it's pitiful. I'm sorry Naruto, but I can't pass you." Naruto tried to give her usual smile, but she felt a tear come down her face, and a sob fought to come up, so she ran from to room.

"Naruto! Wait!" As Iruka started to get up and go after her Mizuki caught his arm.

"Iruka, I think she needs to be alone right now; I'll find her and talk to her later, but we need to finish the exam now. Besides, there's only a few left." Iruka nodded, trying not to think about how Naruto, the one person who always had a joke and a ready smile, had run from the room crying. He felt like crap…

.

.

.

Hiruzen jerked up from her position leaning over paper work, a small feeling of dread coming into his heart.

"Oh no; Naruto…" he reached over for his crystal ball to find her, and sure enough, he found her crying in her swing by the academy. He sighed sadly. "Of all the days for Konohamaru to have a bad dream about his parents, why did it have to be now?" He looked over at the box that sat beside his desk. It only made matters worse. He'd been going to give her a present that he could only give to a genin. He looked back at the crystal ball again then stood and walked to the door.

"I'm going to be out for the rest of the day," he said as he walked by his secretary. She nodded, making a note. _I need to go talk with her,_ he was thinking. _If only there was something I could do to help her pain…_

.

.

.

_Why? Why did it have to be me?_ Naruto was sitting on her swing outside the academy, her tears mostly stopped, but the sadness still there. _I let done Jii-san, and Anko-san, _and_ Konohamaru, too._ She looked over towards the crowd of children and parents that were now celebrating their own graduations. Even with all that noise, she could still hear what some of them said about her, the ridicule, and the hate. She bowed her head. _Why does everyone hate me so much?_ Just then Mizuki cleared his throat from where he stood next to her.

"Huh? Mizuki sensei? What are you doing?" He smiled kindly and gestured with his head.

"Come on, let's go talk for a little while." She nodded and got up, following him to a nearby building that had a public roof to talk.

Just a moment after they left the Hokage came walking through the gates looking for his adopted granddaughter. However, he was left to be confused as she was not sitting on the swing any more. He frowned. _ Where did she go?_

Just then he overheard some of the ladies talking about Naruto again, about how it was good that she failed and thank-goodness the hokage was always there to keep that 'monster brat' in check. He grimaced. _Won't they ever see her for what she _really _is?_ Just then he noticed the young Hyuuga girl walking up to him. _Ah, Naruto's friend Hinata. Maybe she knows where Naruto went_. He smiled as she walked up.

"Well Hinata, I guess you passed, right?" Hinata gave a weak smile and nodded.

"Naruto-chan didn't though, but that doesn't seem right…" Hiruzen bowed his head.

"Yes, I know. She…had a lot on her mind this morning. Something that doesn't come up too often. It was bad timing." Hinata let her smiled drop and instead adopted a sad, but caring face.

"She, she was really sad, about it. I, I heard that she actually ran from the room crying, and her eyes looked all puffy when she was sitting on the chair before Mizuki sensei took her off to talk with her." Hiruzen's eyes widened slightly. Mizuki, while a good shinobi and teacher, didn't seem like one to sympathize with Naruto. His frown deepened.

"Hmm. Thank-you, Hinata. I'm going to see what I can do for her." He then smiled once again and patted her on the shoulder. "But don't let this ruin your day. Naruto's tough, she'll come out fine." Hinata regained her smile at this.

"Yes, you're right. Nothing keeps Naruto-chan down!" She bowed. "Thank-you, hokage-sama. Have a good day."

"You too, Hinata; good day." And with that the little Hyuuga girl walked back over to where her guardian stood. It seemed that her father hadn't come today, but at least her sister was there. However, there were more pressing things on the old hokage's mind as he looked over into the setting sun. What was going on with Mizuki and Naruto?

.

.

.

There were several public roof tops throughout Konoha. They had been integrated in the building plans since the beginning of the village to help in the case of an invasion. The roof tops would allow for semi fortified positions and also as good places to get your bearings and figure out what was going on. However, as Konoha didn't exactly get invaded often, they tended to serve the purpose of being scenic viewpoints. After all, Konoha was a beautiful village. So it was on one of these roof tops that Mizuki and Naruto talked. He was resting his elbow on a railing, looking out at the village while Naruto sat with her back to the railing, arms wrapped around her legs that were pulled up to her chest.

"Why does it have to be me?" She asked. "Why am I the only one that didn't pass?" The white haired man sighed.

"Iruka sensei's not against you, he just wants you to be strong at all costs. He doesn't want you going out there just to get hurt." He noticed that she was still sulking.

I really want to graduate," she said. "I, I just had a bad night, and something weird happened during my ninjutsu test. Why can't _I_ graduate? Why can't I just prove that I'm ready? I'm strong! I can take it." Mizuki straightened up turning to face Naruto.

"Well, if you want to graduate that bad, I guess I can let you in on a little secret. There's an old rule not too many people know about, but it _does_ give you another way to graduate…" Naruto was all ears.

.

.

.

_"What do you mean she didn't pass?_" Anko slammed her hand down on Sarutobi's desk, anger evident on her face. "She was ready! I tutored her myself to make sure that she'd pass the written portion no problem! And she's not so bad a ninjutsu that it should keep her from passing!" The hokage sighed, holding up his hands in defense. He'd come back to his office to use his crystal ball to find out where Naruto and Mizuki were, but somehow Anko had already heard about her little sister not passing and come storming into the hokage's tower with a bone to pick.

"Anko, I'm sorry, but last night Konohamaru had one of his dreams about his parents, and you know how Naruto get's when my son and daughter in law get brought up." Anko's face softened a little bit.

"Well, still, she's good enough! We both know she deserves to pass!"

"Anko, sometimes things just have bad timing; you and I deal with this all the time; _you_ should know this better than most of your comrades." She gave a minor shudder, remembering things from her past with her old sensei, Orochimaru.

"Well, I, well _still_!" Just then the door burst open, a young chuunin that, as Sarutobi recalled, had guard duty that night, came in yelling.

"Hokage! Something terrible has happened!" His brow furrowed.

"What is it? What's going on?"

"Hokage-sama! The scroll of forbidden jutsus, it's been stolen!" Anko gapsed and the hokage's eye's widened.

"What? How? By whom?"

"It, it was Naruto, sir."

.

.

.

Meanwhile out in the woods, Naruto was standing in a clearning by an old house. The scroll was open in front of her and she was practicing hard to master the first jutsu, the shadow clone.

"Come on come on come on! Only get one shot at this! If I can't do this, I can _never _be a shinobi! Come on!" She was pouring sweat, even in her loose tee shirt and skirt. _It's no wonder people don't know about this rule_, she thought. _It's so hard to master these jutsu that no one would _want_ to risk their possibilities to become a shinobi for a one shot thing. After all, Mizuki sensei said that if someone tried to pass this way and failed, the rules would make it so that they could _never_ become shinobi!_ She screwed up her face in determination. _Well, it ain't gonna stop me! I'm gonna pass here and now!_

"Shadow clone jutsu!"

.

.

.

_Naruto, where are you?_ Iruka was speeding through the village, wondering where his student had run to. _Where would you go?_ He stopped, leaning over to catch his breath. _Okay, think, think like Naruto… you steal something like _that_, where would you be expecting everyone to look for you?_ His eyes washed over the village, then he looked beyond the walls. _The forest…_ he picked up his pace once again, running for the best place Naruto would think to hide, then he looked to his side in surprise.

"Anko? What are you doing here?" The purple haired special Jounin grimaced.

"Much as I hate to admit it, you've proven that you know how Naruto thinks even better than I do. I don't know why she's doing what she's doing, but something stinks about this, so I'm gonna find her as fast as I can, so, what better way than to use the person who knows best?" Iruka smiled.

"Heh; of course." So the two of them sped outside of the village, searching the forest based on Iruka's best guesses, splitting up to cover more ground. As it turned out, Iruka found the runaway first, flaring his chakra slightly to alert Anko to their position as he jumped out of the trees and walked over to a huffing and puffing blond.

"Hah; got you," he said, face grim and serious. Of course, in her tiredness, Naruto didn't notice that. Instead she adopted her usual silly grin and laughed, much to Iruka's surprise.

"Heheheheh. Guess you caught me again sensei. I was only able to master one jutsu," she said, then her eyes lit up. "Oh, oh! Yeah! Let me show you the jutsu, then you can pass me!" She started to stand up until she heard Iruka's confusion.

"Huh? What are you talking about Naruto?" She smiled.

"Heh, I guess you didn't know it either. Mizuki sensei said that there was an old rule most people forgot about that if someone can master a jutsu from this scroll, they can pass, but you have to do before someone finds you or else you'll never get to be a shinobi. But I got it! I mastered the first jutsu on the scroll before you found me, so now I can pass!" Iruka's confusion began to become fear. _What? There's no kind of rule like that; I've looked through every single rule book and instruction manual the academy has! _Just then his danger sense kicked in

"Naruto get down!" He pushed the girl out of the way, taking the barrage of shuriken himself. "What's going on?" He looked around, then he heard the laughter."

"Well, I must say, I didn't expect anyone _else_ to be here, but we can still get this taken care of just fine."

"Mizuki! What are you doing?" Up in the trees Mizuki was crouched on a branch, a couple large shuriken strapped to his back.

"Huh? M, Mizuki sensei! What's going on? Why are you attacking Iruka sensei?" He just laughed.

"Oh come on, it's not like Iruka really cares about you; after all, you killed his family." Naruto's eye got huge and she looked at Iruka in shock. _What? How, how could _I_ kill Iruka sensei's parents? What's going on?_

"No, Mizuki! Stop!"

"What's wrong Iruka, can't stand to bear the memory being brought up? Naruto," he said, shifting his attention to the girl, "haven't you ever wondered why everyone in this village hates you? Why the hokage _himself_ made sure that he can look after you and keep you in check?"

"Wh, huh?"

"No Mizuki, it's forbidden! Stop!"

"Why? Why should I? Naruto! The reason everyone hates, you, the reason hat Iruka hates you, is because you, _you_ are the kyuubi! You killed Iruka's parents!" He began to laugh maniaclly and Naruto's eyes began to wave and water. _No, no, it can't be true! I, no… no! Jii-san, he, he loves me…right?_ Tears began to poor down her face as she remembered all the people that called her monster and beast, all the hate that they had as they looked at her.

"Naruto, no; that's, that's not true. I _don't_ hate you, and neither does Hokage sama!"

"Ah shut up Iruka! You're just trying to placate the beast; now just sit back and watch as I finally kill her and get revenge for all the people _she_ killed! HAAH!" With that he grabbed one of his huge shuriken and threw it. Naruto just looked at it as it flew at her, not able to make her body move, to many emotions and too much despair filling her, almost wishing to embrace the coming death…but of course, death would wait for another day as two blurs shot in front of her. She looked up in surprise to see Iruka covering her body with his own, and looking around she saw Anko gripping her arm where the shuriken had impacted, leaving it bloody and useless, for the moment at least.

"What? What are _you_ doing here?" Anko glared at him.

"I'm here because _you_ threatened my little sister. I'm here because, unlike what you _say_, she is _not_ the kyuubi, just like _I'm _not Orochimaru, even if all most of the village sees when they look at me is him." She spat on the ground. "I know her pain, even if everyone doesn't hate me as much as they hate her; that's why I look after her you piece of filth." Mizuki laughed.

"Of course; one piece of scum protects the other; you know, you should have just stayed with Orochimaru-sama, then you could have been so much…. _Different_ than you are." Anko's eyes narrowed at his seeming familiarity with her old master. _This_ bore looking into. Her face took on a sadistic look as she thought of all the fun she was going to have with him.

"Well, one last question before I take you apart: why use Naruto to steal the scroll?" He chuckled.

"Isn't it obvious? After I fluxed her chakra in the ninjutsu, no one was surprised she failed, and it was a perfect cover: the _forlorn_ kyuubi brat steals the scroll to get more power, and she dies as I 'recover' it, then it's going missing can be explained away by her hiding or destroying it before I could get it back, and then it's all mine!" Anko's killing intent went off the scale.

"You, you _messed _with my sister's exam," she said.

"Of course!" She looked at him with such hate and anger that had he not been obviously slightly insane, he would have peed himself.

"I'll kill you…"

"No, _I _will." Anko turned around to see Naruto standing next to a laying down Iruka, eye's slit in anger, but her confidence back. _What happened?_

.

.

"I, Iruka sensei? Why?" Iruka cried as he held himself above his student.

"Because, because we are so similar. I, I remember when the hokage would give out mission to watch over you and my friends would all talk about just taking the mission and doing nothing. I, my parents _did_ die when kyuubi attacked, and I was all alone, but just like with you, Hokage-sama looked out for me. Even when I used to prank and mess around, just to get noticed, getting into trouble just like you, he was there, and he helped me back on the right way.

"Naruto, I don't hate you, and you are _not_ the kyuubi; the fourth hokage sealed that fox inside you, making you its _jailor_, not _it_. You, you are Uzumaki Naruto! And you are _my _student…" he hesitated. "and, and just like Anko-cha, er, Anko-san and Hokage-sama, I love you, as if you were my sister." He smiled. "Didn't you know, I painted on the kage faces once, too?" Naruto's eyes widened, tears free flowing, and she hugged her sensei; he returned it with one arm.

However, after just a couple of seconds he felt her standing up.

"Rest up, sensei; I may not be a shinobi, but I _did_ learn one of the jutsu's on the scroll, and now I'm gonna back Mizuki _pay_ for hurting you and Anko chan!"

"Wha, huh?" Iruka was about to stop her, but then he smiled. "You can do it," he said, then he laid down as instructed, watching Naruto stand up, picking up the shuriken that Mizuki had thrown earlier, Anko's blood from where it sliced up her arm still on its blades. Then she spoke up.

"I'll kill you," Anko was saying.

"No, _I_ will." She looked up at the traitor, eye's narrowed in anger. "If you hurt my sensei, and if you hurt my sister, _I kill you_," she said, and then she threw the shuriken back the white haired chuunin who just laughed and jumped to the ground.

"Hah! As if you could do anything! You're no longer as powerful as you were kyuubi; now you're just a kid with no power; show me what you got!" Naruto grinned sadistically, just like Anko would.

"My pleasure. Shadow clone jutsu!" Then the clearing and the tree's were filled with hundreds are Naruto, all smiling the same sickly sadistic grin. "Alright, charge!"

"ah, ah, aaaahhhHH!" Mizuki froze in panic, knowing that a shadow clone was solid, and overwhelmed by how many there were. In his shock, he never stood a chance, and so he ended up laying there, taking the beating of his life in so much pain he forgot to wonder if he'd ever be able to have children after this was over. Of course, like all things, the fun couldn't last for forever, and after those few minutes the clones dispersed, revealing the little blond girl with a lot more dirt on her clothes, not to mention blood, from the beating she gave Mizuki. She was grinning and rubbing the back of her head.

"Heheh; I guess I got carried away." Looking down at the blood on her clothes she continued. "I'm not even sure that I'll be able to get this blood out now…" Iruka and Anko looked at each other and laughed, then Iruka waved her over.

"Hey Naruto, come over here; I have something for you, but you'll need to close your eyes."

"Huh? What is it?"

"Ah, just get over here and take the gift you brat," Anko said as she bandaged up her arm. Naruto chuckled as she walked over to her sensei and closed her eyes. She almost didn't feel anything, but she felt a little extra weight on her head and a slight tightening.

"Okay, open your eyes," he said. So, she did, and reached up to feel her forehead, where most of the weight rested. Her eyes widened. "Congratulations; you graduate!" She screamed for joy and hugged both Iruka and Anko, both of them laughing at Naruto's antics. Iruka reached an arm around and it became a group hug, though Anko gave him a look of surprise as she felt his arm come around and his hand rest on her side to pull them all into the hug.

_No one but Naruto's hugged me for years…it's, it's kind of nice…_ Anko wrapped her own arm around Iruka, completing the group hug.

_Heh; she's not quite as scary as everyone keeps saying she is. You know, I think she maybe actually looks kinda cute…_

.

.

.

**I don't know about you guys, but I'm having fun with iruka and anko here! Thinks might start to actually open up for them beyond the teasing at this point. :)**

**Of course, going this I'm starting to realize that I'm having fun doing a lot of pairings in this story. I've done some already, and I've got more coming up! And, depending on the results of the KakaRin poll, that one MIGHT come back. I've already got a plan for a future chapter that shows that either a) she died or b) she lived, but for now you'll just have to wait. I haven't even told my brother how that part is going to work yet (who, actually did some proofreading for this chapter; i'm hoping that that get's rid of all spelling and grammar errors, but looking at some past chapters, i've come to the conclusion that many mistakes aren't mine, but the computer messing up as i copy and paste)**

**So, i hope you enjoyed the new chapter. Going to back to look at Garra and the other sand sibs in...two more chapters i think! Yay! lol**

**Have a good one, everybody, and don't forget to review!**


	8. Graduation Gifts

**Okay, new chapter! This one's going to be a bit different than a normal chapter. I've mostly used it to set up alot of drama for later in the story as i came up with a new idea for stuff to add in (for pairings, etc). Things in this chapter are important, thought I don't think this is the best chapter i've ever written. Next chapter will be back to normal writing, and after the next chapter or two, the sand sibs will show up again. To keep with that schedule, this next chapter's will be LONG, and may take longer to write, so i apologize before hand.**

**Anyways, i hope that, despite how i feel that this chapter is a bit stagnant, that you will still enjoy it. Let me know what you think, please! :) As always, anyone who wants to can review my stories, even if you don't have a fanfiction account.**

**disclaimer- I own NOTHING on Naruto. That said, enjoy, and please support the official Naruto manga/anime releases in your area.**

* * *

"And that's what happened, jii-san." Naruto looked down guiltily after finishing her account of the events from that day. She was actually fighting back tears from that guilt. She felt that she had betrayed one of the only people that loved her, and it was tearing her up now that the excitement of the whole thing was over. She didn't see the worried look he gave her as she kept her gaze down, nor did she see him stand up, though she did notice that Anko and Iruka had taken a step back. She finally looked up, just a little, to see the hokage's robes right before her, then she was enveloped in a hug, the old man stroking her hair as she let loose her tears.

"I, I'm sorry, j,jii-san! I, I shouldn't have listened and, and asked you first if, if it was real."

"Shhhh, shh, Naruto, it's okay, my Naruto, my little girl. It was not wrong what you did." She looked up in surprise at her grandfather's words.

"Bu, but I, I stole the forbidden scroll! I, I could have let it get into the hands of another village!" He smiled warmly at her.

"Yes, that _could_ have happened, but what _did_ happen, was you trusted someone who _should_ have deserved your trust. You had no reason to suspect him, and neither did any of us. Did you know that Iruka almost sees Mizuki as a brother?" Naruto's eyes widened as she looked back at her sensei who was now shuffling his feet, and she saw the tears that he was holding back in his own eyes. As she looked back at her jii-san she missed seeing Anko putting her hand on his shoulder soothingly, and his look of thanks.

"Naruto, what you _did_, was protect this village, and the people you love. I am proud of you." Naruto hugged him tightly, crying again, but this time for happiness. He wasn't mad at her; he was _proud_ of her…

"Arigato, jii-san. I promise, I'll never let anyone trick me like that again." He tousled her hair as he let go of her.

"I know; that's one thing about you, Naruto-chan, you learn. You may not be the smartest in terms of books, but from experience, you learn in a way no one else does." She grinned from ear to ear.

"Heheh, yeah, believe it!" He turned back to his desk, speaking as he went.

"Now, one more thing, Naruto. I'm going to leave this up to you to decide, but I thought I'd found the perfect gift for your graduation. I'm not sure now, since Iruka gave you his own headband," he said, leaning down to pick up something from beneath his desk, "but this was your mothers, and I thought you might like to have it." He turned back, handing it too her. Naruto's jaw had dropped as she held out her hands to take the box. It was wrapped in bright colors, much like any gift would be, and about the size of a shoe box.

"You know that I can't tell you much about your mother, but she came her as a little girl from another country and stayed to become a shinobi of Konoha. Some of what's in that box where what she used when she was your own age." Naruto was carefully sitting down while Anko and Iruka looked at each other in confusion, trying to figure out who Naruto's mother was. They had both assumed she was a complete orphan, never thinking that either of her parents might have been shinobi. However, try as they might, neither could think of a kounichi that matched what the hokage had said, so instead they just watched as Naruto opened up her gift.

Lying in the box, on top of everything else, was a headband with the leaf symbol. The cloth was a deep crimson red, and it was long enough that it would reach halfway down her back. It showed it's age and use from all the light scratches and dents on it. Naruto picked it up, almost gingerly, as if afraid it would break.

"As you can see, your mother never changed her head plate. That is the very forehead protector that she used from the time she graduated the academy till she died." Naruto nodded, putting it down in her lap and looking at it for a moment before returning to the box.

Also inside were various shinobi tools. There was a set of kunochi sandals, though these were the usual Konoha blue, a weapons pouch which also happened to be red, and a shiny mesh undershirt.

"That mesh is the strongest that money can buy," Hiruzen said. "Your mother firmly believed that a shinobi should be prepared both in their own skill, and whatever else they could provide for themselves. She told me it took months to get it made, but she managed to afford it through saving money for some time. It might be a little big on you for now, but it was also make to stretch, so soon it will fit fine, and you _should_ be able to continue wearing it until it wears out." The little girl smiled, running her fingers across the material, enjoying the cool feel of the mixed cloth and metal. Anko and Iruka were looking on in awe, and Anko had given a high whistle when she'd seen the mesh. She wondered if maybe she could afford one as nice as that if she laid of the dango for a little, then slapped herself for the stupidity of laying off of dango for _any_ reason. Then Naruto looked over her shoulder at Iruka.

"Um, sensei, what should I do?" Iruka looked at her, confused.

"Do? About what?" She held up her mother's headband. Iruka winced.

"Well, I really don't mind. I mean, it was your mothers, and since you never got to know her, well, I guess that it would be nice to have this as a way to be close to her again." Naruto frowned, looking down at the headband and other contents of the box, reaching up to touch her headband, running her thumb over the engraved metal. Then she perked up.

"Hey, jii-san! Could I have mom's forehead protector attached to her weapon's pouch? Then I could have both of them, mom's and Iruka sensei's!" The hokage smiled, happy with her solution, Iruka proud that she still wanted his gift to her.

"Alright! This is awesome," Anko yelled out, pumping her hand in the air. "Let's skip over everything else and go celebrate!" Naruto yelled her agreement, the two men in the room trying not to roll their eyes as they smiled at the girls antics, but also hoping that it would be the other one to remind the girls that it was the middle of the night and there weren't any places open…

.

.

.

"Wow, that really happened?" Konohamaru was sitting on Naruto's bed as she put on all of her equipment. He'd come in while she was brushing out her long hair, preparing for team assignments that day. He'd been so busy with Ebisu, and her with getting everything ready for being a real genin, that she'd never gotten the chance to tell him the story.

"Yep! Turns out Mizuki sensei was messing with my chakra, so I really deserved to pass anyways, besides taking that…jerk out after he hurt Anko-chan and Iruka-sensei." She smiled evilly at the memory. "I wonder if I kicked him enough to cause permanent damage?" Konohamaru shuddered.

"Wow sis, you're scary sometimes!" She laughed as she finished brushing her hair and began tying it into the twin ponytails that she so often wore.

"Hey, blame Anko-chan! She's the creepy one." Konohamaru had to agree with that, and soon the two siblings were talking and laughing normally and having breakfast. Naruto said good bye to him as he went off to train with Ebisu sensei, and Naruto headed to get her team. _I wonder who I'll be paired with?_ She thought over the other students. Somewhere straight out as considerations, like those jerks that had tried to get her killed by going into the backwoods a couple years back. Of course, a couple of them had quite the academy after receiving more pranks, courtesy of Naruto and Anko._ Ino and Sakura are WAY too loud, and all they can think about it Sasuke. Bleag!_ She shook her head in disgust for the boy and his fan girls. _I guess he wouldn't be _too_ bad, though, if he could just stop brooding all the time and be more energetic, like Kiba maybe._ She tilted her head to the side. _Hmmm… he wouldn't be a bad teammate. We both like fighting, but man, he sure has a thing against women! You'd think he'd realize that there ain't no difference what with his mom and everything. Let's see…Shikamaru's okay, even if he is a lazy butt. Choji's pretty nice, too. That Shino guy's a bit weird. Hardly ever talks and it's freaky when he does._ She smiled. _Ah, but Hinata would be a great teammate! She's awesome and she'd be best for helping me with chakra, not to mention being my best friend!_ Naruto smiled as she thought about her possible team. _Well, Jii-san knows how much fun we have together, I'm sure we'll be on the same team!_ With that thought, she continued on to the academy, whistling happily. Of course, the first thing that happened when she came through the doors was a surprised shriek.

"Naruto! What are you doing here? This is only for students who passed you know. Repeats don't start up again for another week." Naruto rolled her eyes, pointing to the headband that she had in her hair (she'd opted to put it back so it rested just in front of where her pony tails came out rather than on her forehead, much like how Sakura was wearing hers now, actually).

"Check out the headband, Sakura; I _did_ pass!" Sakura stuttered as a few kids moaned and a couple actually had congratulatory comments.

"Say what? Haha, guess you had it in you after spaz," Kiba said, reclining in his chair, broad smile on his face.

"Congratulations, Naruto-chan," Hinata said.

"…" Shikamaru, accompanied by Choji, "munch munch." She rolled her eyes at the two of them, getting the message anyways, and smiled back.

"Heehee, turns out someone was trying to make me fail," she said as she sat down next to Hinata and Kiba. "But I caught them and jii-san and Iruka sensei retested me, and I passed!" Hinata smiled, happy for her friend and Kiba laughed.

"Hah, girl like you I bet they wished they hadn't." Naruto got that evil grin again as she reminisced.

"Yeah, especially since I don't think he can have kids anymore…" Kiba froze in the middle of his laughter to gulp and slowly let his chair down, wincing at the imagined pain.

"Um…remind me never to _really_ tick you off." He shuddered again.

"Any ideas on who you'll have for your team?" She shrugged.

"Nah, not really, but I hope Hinata's on my team!"

"Me too, Naruto chan."

"What about you, Kiba? Any preferences?" Kiba took a thoughtful look, something he didn't do often. Naruto laughed at the thought. She and Kiba _were_ quite a like in some respects.

"Well, I think I'd like Shino; he's actually a pretty cool guy, even if he does seem weird sometimes. He just has a funny way of talking, but he's pretty smart, once you get past that."

"You should think more about how you talk about people. You never know when they might be listening, and if you talk about them badly, it may hurt their feelings." The three looked behind them, surprised by the low, quiet and steady voice.

"Oh hey, Shino, did know you were there!"

"I thought not, hearing how you were speaking about me. It's not very kind." Kiba shrugged as Hinata blushed slightly and Naruto rolled her eyes.

"Hey man, I say it how it is. Besides, you _are_ the first person I said I wanted to be teammates with. You gotta balance these things out man." Shino tilted his head slightly.

"Hmmm, I suppose you're right, somewhat. I will take the compliment, then, but you may still wish to be more careful about how you speak of others." With that he walked back to his chair, Naruto rolling her eyes.

"Honestly, I don't know why you _do_ want to be teammates with him; he's just too weird!" Kiba laughed.

"Yeah, but like I said, after you get past how he talks, he's pretty cool."

"Yeah yeah, whatever." She looked over at him again.

"So, who else?" Kiba scratched Akamaru's ears (who was lying on the desk in front of him) for a moment before answering.

"Well, honestly, I'd like _you_ for a teammate." Naruto looked at him in shock.

"What? Me? Why?" He shrugged, grinning foolishly.

"Well, you're fun! And you fight like a demon or something, too! Haha, you'd be a great partner in a fight." He missed Naruto's wince at his choice of words, but her sudden discomfort made her look up at the clock.

"Well, thanks, but it's about time for class to start, so I need to get to my seat." Kiba looked at her in surprise as she walked off.

"Since when do we have assigned seats," he asked Hinata. Hinata shrugged her shoulders, wondering what had given her friend that aura of discomfort, and hoping Naruto was alright. She would ask her about it later, but for now, maybe she could talk to Kiba alone…

Naruto, meanwhile, was looking for an open seat as her mind was occupied by Kiba's words. _Crap, why did he have to say that? I know he didn't mean nothin', but…_ She shook her head mentally, still thinking about his 'demon' comment, not even noticing who she was sitting down next to until someone screamed at her a moment later.

"Hey! Naruto baka! How dare you take the seat next to Sasuke!" She looked up in surprise to see Ino and Sakura standing next to her, hands on their hips, glaring at her.

"Huh?" She looked over, shocked to see that she was, indeed, sitting next to the annoying Uchiha. _How did I end up sitting here?_ She looked back at the other girls. "Heheh, sorry about that. I uh, I had a lot on my mind and didn't notice where I was sitting. Please, take it," she said, standing up quickly, and walking around the desk. The girls sniffed at her, as though she'd done something rude, then began bickering over who would sit next to Sasuke.

Sasuke, meanwhile, had been looking at the blond girl out of the corner of his eye. _Hmm… not that I mind, but why _doesn't_ she like me like all the other girls? I remember seeing her when we were kids, and I thought we were going to be friends…_ He frowned (more than usual) as he thought back to his childhood memories. He remembered his mother pointing the girl out many times and how he needed to be her friend when he got to the academy. He would ask her why they couldn't be friends now, and all she'd say was that his dad wouldn't understand and not to say anything about it.

Come to think of it, he wondered if that's what all the girly clothes were for that he'd helped his mom buy back then. Was she giving them to Naruto? Why all the secrecy about it? His brow furled. Why _hadn't_ they become friends? Just then he noticed Naruto looking at him oddly from across his desk. _What the crap? What's with that stare!_

Naruto, for her part, had just been looking at him curiously. He was always brooding, but she'd noticed that, when she got up, his brooding was different than normal. Instead of 'grim determination', as she liked to refer to it, it had gone confused. He was totally spaced out, till a second ago, then he gave her his usual glare. Well, two could play at that game! She leaned forward, crossing her arms, and gave him a glare back. They continued to glare few a few seconds before the boy sitting behind Naruto pushed his chair back, not realizing that someone was behind him.

"oh hey, sorry about that. You okay?" He was quiet surprised to see the sight that awaited him: Naruto and Sasuke 'kissing'. The classroom went silent as everyone felt that auras of shock and killing intent that came off of the fan girls. Only a few people missed seeing Naruto and Sasuke lip-locked, but only the fan girls seemed to the shock on the two genin's faces, and their disgust as they jumped away from each other and started to spit and attempt to scrub their mouths out.

"Gak! Bleagh! Ugh! That was disgusting!"

"Bleagh! Gah!" Naruto paused, suddenly noticing the killer intent as Sasuke continued to clean out his mouth. She turned slowly to see the fan girls cracking their knuckles and staring at her.

"Narutooo….you stole Sasuke kun's first kiss," they growled dangerously. She held up her hands defensivly.

"Hey hey hey, it, it was an accident! I, I fell! You saw that, didn't you? I mean, this guy pushed his chair into me and I fell! I-" She broke off as the first girl raised her fist to administer the beating, but it never touched her. She opened the eyes she had close at her impending doom to see Kiba standing before her, Sakura's fist caught in his hand.

"It was an accident," he said dangerously. "I would _think_ you could let her off for falling into a guy she's not interested in." The girls glared at him, but the beating was already interrupted. Instead Ino just walked up as Kiba let go of Sakura's hand.

"Alright then, but don't think we'll forget this Naruto! You stay away from Sasuke or next time we won't let you go so easy!" Naruto nodded her head vigorously, wondering how Kiba got there so fast and why he'd bothered while Sasuke just covered his head. _Won't it ever stop!_ The fan girls turned back to each other to figure out the seating again, taking a moment to realized that, in the confusion, Sakura had taken the open seat, grinning victoriously. They, of course, screamed out their frustrations, but that didn't really matter, not to Naruto anyways. She was following Kiba back to his seat, forgetting why she'd left him and Hinata in the first place.

"Why did you do that?" Kiba shrugged not looking at her, but his voice was more subdued than normal.

"Anyone could see it was an accident. You didn't deserve what they were about to dish out, and you're my friend, aren't you? So why shouldn't I help?" She shook her head, knowing there was something he wasn't saying.

"Whatever. Thanks." He looked over his shoulder, grinning his usual grin.

"Heh, no problem. Just go getting into trouble like that again. OW!" He rubbed his arm where she'd punched him.

"Not on your life," she replied, grinning back and sitting down next to Hinata who had a sad smile on her face. "Now, what should we talk about till sensei get's here?"

"Well…" _Speak of the devil_ was the thought that occupied the three genin's thoughts.

"Alright kids, quiet down! It's time to get your team assignment!"

"Wait, where's Mizuki sensei?" Iruka forced a smile.

"Oh, he's not feeling well; he may be gone for a good while. Meantime, you're all graduating anyways, but if you want to send him get well cards or anything, I'll do what I can to make sure he gets them."

_Please not Sasuke or a fan girl, please not Sasuke or a fan girl, please not Sasuke or a fan girl, please not Sasuke or a fan girl!_

"And the teams are…"

* * *

**Alright, that's it for this chapter. I realized that i'd never really done anything with Mikoto's thoughts back when i wrote those in in the earlier chapters, so I'm going to be providing some flashbacks here and there to show what she did rather than going back and rewriting to include what i meant to put in.**

**Also, I've decided that I must really miss my gf (whom i met at college and lives on the other side of the US) because I came up with an alternative NaruSasu kiss that's _slightly _less innocent. I blame, as i said, missing my gf. As such, since i DID write it, the alternative version is available on request, but i'd rather not have it posted with the rest of the story just 'cause.**

**Please review and tell me what you think, especially if you have advice (in a constructive, NON-flame format) of how i can improve. Include where i made grammar errors and i will go back and correct them after i get off of work tomorrow. Thanks!**

**Final note, i recently did a ****NaruHina **one-shot called 'teardrops'. Since one-shots only get to the top of the Naruto fanfic list once, i'm including one 'advertisement' per a story so i can get more feedback on it. Thanks to anyone who reads and reviews it, and until i see you again on Naruto of the Sand, take care!


	9. ENOUGH with the Tests Already!

**Alright, so, this chapter wasn't as along as i planned. I was going to go straight to the beginning of the chuunin exams, but it was taking too long, so i got the the beginning of the wave mission instead. Still, this is a pretty decently long chapter eh?**

**Anyways, i'd also like to mention, for those of you that read multiple of my stories, i'm still not exactly sure, but I think the plan right now is to put the other three on hold until i finish this one (this is the only one where i know exactly where it's going to end, and it's alot sooner than the other three, though I might do a sequel).**

**So here it is, new chapter; read, review, and especially, ENJOY!**

**disclaimer-don't own, but i encourage to support the official release**

* * *

"Why Iruka sensei! Why?" Iruka looked up, not particularly surprised at Naruto outburst. He had figured she'd get upset.

"Well, Naruto, you know we build teams to balance them out, and though you've been a fairly good student, you still got the lowest grade on the exams, not to mention failing them last year. Combine those results with your sporadic ninjutsu and you have the lowest scores in the class. Sasuke, on the other hand, has the highest of the boys, and Sakura has the highest test scores for the girls. You three will even each other out."

"Cha! We don't need a looser like her on our team sensei!" Naruto slammed her palms down on the table, turning to look at Sakura.

"You'd better be ready to take that back cause I'm gonna make you!"

Nartuo! Sakura! Stop at once or I'll be getting the hokage!" Naruto immediately sat down, mumbling vague threats under her breath as Kiba and Hinata were stuck trying to decide whether or not to laugh at the whole thing, or glare at Sakura (who was also sitting down and sulking) for her insult to Naruto. However, before they could decide, team 8 was called out and they looked at each other in surprise. Even Naruto stopped her sulking for a moment.

"What? Why couldn't I have gotten on _your_ team? Man, that's _so_ not fair." Hinata smiled brightly.

"Well, I'm s, sure that we'll have a g, good time as a team, Kiba-kun." Kiba nodded and shrugged.

"Yeah, probably. I mean, we're pretty good, and we've got Shino, too, so I expect we'll make a good match." He looked sideways at Naruto who was back to sulking, slight blush on his cheeks. "Yeah, a good team, huh Akamaru?" It was then that Iruka put down the scroll with the team assignments, the reading complete.

"Alright everyone, you'll have an hour to get to know you're teammates, then your sensei's will come and call for you." He looked over them once more, a tear almost coming to his eye as he thought about how much he'd miss some of them…and how much he hated how he'd have to deal with some of them coming back when they failed their genin test. "Good luck, and take care," he said, and he left the room.

Most everyone _did_ spilt up and talk with their teammates, though Naruto just sat there banging her head on her desk for a little while before getting up.

"Where the heck did they go anyway?" She walked around the academy grounds trying to catch a sight of them, but she caught sight of someone else first as she walked around a corner and then jumped right back to the other side.

"Ah come one, can't you just give me a hint?" Iruka shook his head, little beads of sweat appearing around the bottom of his head band.

"No, you'll just run and tell Naruto the first chance you get and then you'll plan a prank for her new sensei," he said. Anko put on a pouty face and leaned into him, hands on his chest. Of course, Iruka didn't have anywhere to run to as she'd already caught him next to a wall.

"Pleeease? I, I'll let you kiss meeee?" She said, as cutely as she could, eyes wide and 'innocent' as she stared up at him. His sweat began to pour. _Crap, that's actually really good incentive! Wait, when did that happen?_ Anko gave him an odd look of surprise at the confusion that showed on his face. _What's he thinking? Wait! He, he's not actually considering it, is he? NO one considers it!_

"S, say, how, how about I, I tell you over some, uh, some dango, eh?" Anko face faulted in shock, immediately standing up and looking at Iruka with a very scrutinizing gaze.

"Come again," she said, her voice normal and level. Iruka cleared his throat.

"Well, ahem, that is, it's, it's better to eat first, don't you think, than, than to skip right to the-" he never did get to finish as Anko's face lit up and she charged forward, mashing her lips against his and holding that position for several seconds, red tomato blush covering both their faces. She brought her head back a few inches as he failed to respond much.

"I, uh, I already ate," she said, grinning mischievously. She didn't expect to be looking at a man whose face was now moving from emotion to emotion faster a heartbeat. Finally, he replied.

"Anko, have you ever, gah, have you ever, _been_ on a date before?" She blushed and shook her head, looking down, an odd look for her usual brash nature. Iruka massaged his head. "I thought not," he said, not expecting what came next.

"I, I'm sorry. I, I didn't think I'd be that bad a kisser, but more and more-" he covered her mouth, not wanting to hear the guilt and despair in her voice.

"No no, that's not it. It's just, [sigh], it's just, well, I _do_ like you, Anko, like you were starting to say, I think. It, it came on slowly, but I think since that night last week, with Naruto, I stopped being so scared of you." Her eyes widened.

"Scared? Of me? Wh, why?" He looked away, but she grabbed his chin and made him look back at her. "What do you mean you were scared of me? Why?" He sighed again, cringing.

"Its, well, most of the shinobi, male _and_ female, talk about you… in a certain way. I, I should have known better, especially after seeing you with Naruto the last couple of years, but I listened anyways. The villagers…they think of you the way Mizuki said; I think it was maybe when I heard him saying it then that I kind of started to realize exactly what I'd done." He looked down at her. "I'm sorry, Anko, for thinking of you as a traitor." She slapped him, hard, leaving a red mark on his face. She slapped him again and again, five times in total before grabbing his jacket and crying into him.

"It, it's not fair! I, I never did anything! I'm not _him_! I'm not-" she broke down, and Iruka reached his own arms around her, wondering if even Naruto had ever seen the snake mistress like this. She reminded him of Naruto this way, always a happy cheerful front, but with turmoil inside.

"I'm sorry, Anko, and you're right, you _don't_ deserve that. And about before, it _was_ a sloppy kiss, but that wasn't why I wasn't kissing back. I wasn't kissing back because I thought that you deserve better than _just_ a kiss. You deserve to actually be treated like the caring woman that you are, and not the heartless, insane one you have so many thinking you are. I've seen the real you now, and I don't want to just _kiss_ you Mitarashi Anko, I want to go on dates and get to _really_ know you. YOU. That is, if you still think I'm worth a shot." He lifted her chin. "What do you say?" She smiled through her tears and made to kiss him again but stopped herself and just her face back into his chest.

"Yes, I, I would like that…Iruka-kun." Naruto, at this point, tiptoed away, trying to keep the tears out of _her_ eyes. She had vaugly been aware that people treated Anko differently than other people, more like how _she_ was treated, but she never knew that it hurt her so much…still, maybe Iruka sensei could help her now, and Naruto would too, when she wasn't busy doing missions… mission… shinobi… genin… hour… CRAAP!

.

.

.

Naruto was running all over the academy trying to find her teammates with the few minutes she had left. She finally found them, but they were already walking back to the classroom. Well, Sasuke was walking back. Sakura was walking around him trying to get him to talk to her and let her hold his arm. Naruto stormed over.

"Where the _heck_ were you two!" Even Sasuke stopped and managed to look surprised. Sakura just looked offended.

"What's it to you what Sasuke-kun and I are doing?" Naruto glared at her and Sasuke winced at the implication. In reply, Naruto pointed at her new teammate and spoke in a very angry tone.

"Listen here you! We're on a team whether we like it or not, and we were _supposed_ to use this hour to get to know each other. So, what do I spend the whole time doing? Trying to figure out where the _heck_ my teammates disappeared to! How is _that_ getting to know each other? And don't you even try to say you were getting to know Sasuke; stalker like you, you probably even know what brand of underwear he has on!"

"I, I, I, I'M NOT A STALKER!" Sasuke looked at her, terrified as she failed to deny that she knew his underwear. _Ooookay….need to burn everything I own and replace it, just to make sure she didn't contaminate it…_ Naruto just nodded.

"Case and point! Not that it matters right now. We're out of time so let's hurry up and get back in there or we'll be late to meet our sensei!" With that Naruto began to practically push the other two towards the academy. None of the three noticed a silver haired shinobi watching them from the cover of the trees.

"An interesting group indeed," he said, gazing up at the sky for a moment. A small tear fell from his uncovered eye. "Hmmm…maybe I'll go visit sensei, Obito… and Rin, for a little while.

.

.

.

"Graaahh! Where is he!"

"Naruto calm down! I'm sure that our sensei has a good reason for being late. After all, he's a Jounin, _and_ he's going to be training Sasuke-kun! He's gotta be really important if their trusting him with that." Naruto rolled her eyes.

"Ugh; Sakura, you know _nothing_ about how they pick senseis."

"NaniiI? I got the highest grades in the class for a reason you know!" Naruto laughed.

"Hah! Book smarts don't equal ninja smarts! I've _been_ there when they decide senseis and teams before. Remember, I'm the hokage's granddaughter, after all." She crossed her arms smugly. "so there!"

"Yeah, whatever," Sakura mumbled, not wanting to admit that Naruto could be even partly right. Sasuke, meantime, was looking at the two of them without interest…at least, that's what he made it look like. Truth be told, he was thinking back on all the time spent in the academy (and had been since his earlier thoughts about their youth right before their accidental kiss) and he realized that Naruto was the only girl that had ever approached him in a non-crush/fan-girl manner. The first time they'd met, it had been brief, but friendly. These days they basically ignored each other, both preferring the cold shoulder treatment. _What is it about her that makes her so different? Does it have something to do with why mom wanted to be nice to her?_ He raised an eyebrow as he saw her getting an eraser and a chair. _Or maybe she'd just stupid…_ He was leaning towards the latter as Sakura questioned Naruto about her little prank she was setting up.

"Our sensei is an elite Jounin; there's no WAY he'll fall for a trick like that," Sasuke said, not that Naruto cared. She was waved him off as Sakura vehemently agreed with him. Well, a moment later he was proved wrong, it seemed, as someone stuck their head in the doorway and the chalk filled eraser hit him on the head. Naruto started laughing and Sakura started going on about how they had told her not to do that.

"How do I put this," the man said thoughtfully. Sasuke noticed that he had a mask that covered most of his face, and his headband was covering one of his eyes. Other than that his uniform was typical for a shinobi, his only other distinguishing feature being his silver colored hair that stuck up in the air. "My first impression of you," he was saying, taking a small pause, "I hate you."

"What?"

"Oh, and meet me on the roof top in five minutes. It feels less formal there than this stuffy little classroom." And with that he closed the door again. The three looked at each other.

"Well, that was weird," Naruto said.

"Who cares? We need to get to the roof pronto!"

"Yeah yeah, alright, fine!"

.

.

.

"So Naruto, how did your day go?" Naruto glared at the hokage.

"Old man, that was just mean!" Hiruzen managed to look shocked and hurt.

"Why Naruto-chan, whatever do you mean?" She pointed at his accusingly.

"You knew! You knew that my sensei would be over an hour late, didn't you? And that he's lazy and as direct as a lost duck!" The old hokage laughed.

"Yes, well, Kakashi-san is _odd_ in some ways, but he _is_ a good shinobi, believe it or not. His being late only applies when missions are not involved. In fact, sometimes when we're missing someone for an important mission, he'll just 'happen along', as he says." Naruto's eye twitched.

"He must be the most inconsistent person I've ever met," she declared.

"Only if you don't know him. Some of us have him down like clockwork," he said.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." She started to walk off to her room, but ran right back.

"HEY! One more thing, _jii-san_! What's up with this crappy 'survival' training? Why didn't you tell me anything?" Hiruzen smirked.

"Ah, I wondered when you'd get to that part. Well, everyone has to do it, and the only ones who know ahead of time are the ones who choose go it again after their sensei fails them. Not many do since it's rather discouraging, and that's the way we weed out a lot the shinobi candidates that otherwise wouldn't be able to put their hearts into it, or would get killed early on in their shinobi careers. It's maintained as a top level secret to make sure that everyone keeps working their hardest until the final deciding moment.

"Of course," he said, "every sensei has their own unique 'survival' training, or whatever else they choose to call it, so don't go asking me for hints."

"Ahhh! I was going to use my best puppy dog eyes too! Oh well…still, since everyone is different, I guess I need to tell you that I won't be needing breakfast tomorrow. Sensei said we'd throw up." Hiuzen spewed out the tea he was drinking all over the table.

"R, r, really? My, isn't, isn't that interesting?" Naruto just gave him a weird look before shrugging and finally going to her room. She wanted to make sure her mom's old tools were nice and shiny for the test the next day…even though she'd already polished them so much that it seemed unlikely they could shine much more.

_Well, I must say, I didn't expect him to be using my very own test! It's no wonder the other teams I've assigned him in the past have failed. Not many get the point of that test…I wonder if Naruto will?_

Said girl was, at that moment, pausing in her polishing to once again look at an odd kunai he mom had. It had strange writing and seals all over it, and it had three prongs, like a sai. _It doesn't seem very special, but if it wasn't why was there only one?_

.

.

.

The three of them arrived at about the same time that next morning, barely awake (though Sasuke tried to pretend that he wasn't) and began to wait for Kakashi. Even Sakura was too tired to try and glomp Sasuke like she normally did. They sat down for the first hour and talked idly about this 'survival' training, but after that they slowly nodded off. Naruto was the first one to wake up, oddly enough.

"Ah! No, I was, I was just resting my eyes sensei!" She looked around and realized that the three of them were still all alone. "Whew, just a dream," she said, relieved. Then she noticed the pressure on her shoulders. She almost jumped when she realized that both of her teammates were sleeping on her. _Darn it, now Sakura's going to try and say that I'm trying to steal Sasuke!_ She blushed slightly. _I do _not_ need this!_ She slowly tried to slip out from between them, but found that Sasuke was embracing her like she was his personal pillow or something. Her blush deepened. _Not good not good not good not good not good not good!_ Just then Sasuke started waking up. _Oh thank goodness it's him first and not Sakura!_

"Hmmm mmm hnnmn…" Sasuke's eye's opened slowly. _Hnnn, this isn't my bed, but my pillow feels comfortable…aren't we having training today?_ _Who's the pretty blond gi…AAHHH!_ Sasuke was suddenly quite awake as he jumped away up and away from Naruto, disentangling himself. He didn't really register that he'd been essentially hugging the blond, however, as much as the thought he'd had. _I was half asleep, I was half asleep, I was half asleep, I was half asleep!_ Naruto simpley stuck her nose up hautily and looked the other way, She didn't want the arrogant little boy to see her blushing for no reason; he might get the wrong idea, after all.

"Well, it's about time you woke up," she said. "I don't like being treated as an emo boys personal pillow!" Sasuke gagged. He'd been doing _what_?

"It, it's not like that," he retorted. "I mean who, who'd want to, to do _that_ kind of thing with a dobe like you!" She whipped her head back around, an angry offended look on her face before looking away again, crossing her arms.

"Well then, next time I'll just punch you in the face and let you use the tree roots for a pillow instead of me!" Sasuke's mouth dropped as he recalled thinking about his 'pillow' a moment ago, his face getting redder and redder. However, _this_ akward conversation was stopped by Sakura yawning and stretching as she sat up. By the time she had actually opened her eyes her teammates were both sitting, facing away from both her and each other.

"Hey, wait a second!" They flinched. _Did she hear that?_ "Where's Kakashi sensei! He was supposed to be here, like, four hours ago!" Speaking of the devil…

"Hello everyone, sorry I'm late. I got lost on the path of life…"

And so the test commenced. Naruto, of course, tried to take Kakashi out head on. She didn't know much about him, though she was pretty sure she'd heard his name in some of the meetings she'd sat in on with her grandpa, but after him saying that if they failed his test they'd go back to the academy, there was no _way_ she was going to let him win!

Sasuke and Sakura, meanwhile, had hidden in the trees and bushes surrounding the field that Naruto and their sensei were currently fighting in. Both were shocked when they saw that Naruto was using _solid_ clones, and not the mere illusions they were taught in the academy. When and w_here did she learn that,_ they both wondered, knowing she would have shown it off if she'd learned it back in the academy. Neither was surprised, however, when she got caught, but their own attempts to attack their sensei were to no avail. His guard was constantly up. He truly was an elite Jounin, not even letting his guard down when facing a dobe like Naruto.

Soon enough, Naruto was up in a tree and her teammates had fled. Seeing as how she was wearing a skirt, she was very grateful that she had on leggings underneath. However, getting down was proving to be difficult, and Kakashi simply gave her a small lecture about 'looking _beneath_ the beneath' and walked off.

_She's so much like her mother, even if she looks a lot more like sensei,_ he thought. _Not as skilled as either of them, though, even with the kyuubi._ _Of course, even living with the hokage doesn't mean he gets the time to train you, and he told me about how most of the people treat her. _A small tear formed in his eye. _I shouldn't have disappeared when they. I could helped out more, trained her like sensei trained me._ He dropped his head, shaking it for his past mistakes. _I had no right, even, even _if_ Rin died. I should have faced my sorrows instead of drowning myself in missions._ He continued through the rest of the test, trapping Sakura in a genjutsu and sticking Sasuke into the ground with those thoughts, the depression coming back. He'd thought that he'd gotten a full hold on it two years back after he finally relented to therapy with Inochi, but maybe it looked like he should have listened to the man when he said he should continue a few more sessions.

Of course, Naruto put a smile on his face again (not that anyone could see it) as he caught her trying to cheat and eat early. Then time was up.

"You all fail," he told them simply. "You shouldn't even bother going back to the academy." Even Sasuke, the typically emotionless Uchiha, got up in arms about it, though of course they all missed the point, even when he told them about the stone next to them that contained the names of all the shinobi that died over the years, his friends and comrades, people who relied on one another and used teamwork to see them, and their friends, through many missions, saving the village countless times over before their died.

"I'll give you one more chance," he said. "After you eat some lunch, we'll give it another go, but _Naruto_ doesn't get to eat since she cheated, and _neither_ of you are allowed to give her your lunches."

"Ah who needs it! I can go days without food, believe it!" Of course, her stomach growled right then, ruining her brave speech.

"One hour, them I'm back and we'll continue, and this time I'll make it harder." With that he shushined away. It was only a moment before Sasuke proffered his meal.

"Eat it, while Kakashi sensei isn't around. We'll need you at your full strength if we hope to beat him."

"Ah, um..." Sakura sighed.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, but since you're the strongest, I'll feed her from my food." She stood up and moved the first bit of rice to Naruto's mouth, who thanked them both, happy that they actually wanted her help. Of course, Kakashi had been watching the whole time and he stormed in, trying to scare them into denying their team once again, but they stood up to him instead of cowering and denying it, like his other teams had done. _Well, this _is_ a pleasant surprise. I guess…_

"You pass," he said, giving them his one eyed smile.

"What?"

"You, pass." He laughed inwardly at their shock as he explained to them that the test was _really_ about teamwork, repeating the words of his old teammate. "In the shinobi world, those who break the rules are scum, it true. But those who refuse to help their friends are worse than scum." He smiled as they walked off to inform the hokage that they were, officially, team seven, wondering how long it would take Sakura and Sasuke to remember that Naruto was still tied up to the pole. It was a pleasant surprise when Sasuke pointed it out before they even reached the trees and went back to cut the ropes himself. Only Kakashi noticed the small blushes as Naruto grudgingly said thanks. _Maybe, maybe _this_ is what I need; the thing I should have done all along…Rin-chan, Minato-sensei, Kushina-chan, Karura-chan, tou-san..._…_ I'll make you all proud…_

.

.

.

The next few days seemed to drag on for the new team as they began to get into the habit of waiting for Kakashi to show up (late with a lame excuse) and do d-rank missions. All three grumbled about the lameness of them, but Kakashi did his best to actually make them into good training exercises. Capturing Tora, for example, was no small feat. Of the last few years it had become a rather difficult mission. That cat just kept escaping, and it was getting much better. So, he made them plan out their 'attack' and coordinate in accordance with it, just like in an assignation or similar type mission. When doing physical labor, he would make them add in difficult movements to aid their taijutsu. It was subtle, and he doubted that they noticed since they stayed so focused on grumbling, but when they would spar for an hour at the end of the day, he could see their styles flowing more evenly, though Sasuke was obviously still the strongest. Sakura was quite weak overall, her main asset being her brains and chakra control, and Naruto was simply all over the place. Of course, it made her rather unpredictable, which gave Sasuke more difficulty defeating her. Still it was no surprise when Naruto began to complain after their third time capturing Tora.

"Hey Jii-san! This is lame; when are we gonna get a _real_ mission, eh? How are we supposed to improve if we never get a chance to show our stuff?" Kakashi laughed inwardly as he watched the hokage put a hand to his face and rub his temples. He suspected Naruto had been after him about it already at home, but when Sasuke and Sakura chimed in an agreement with Naruto, he explained the set up for missions, A B C and D ranks, and who got to take them. Kakashi expected Naruto to keep fighting, but then Anko walked into the room.

"Hey Iruka-kun! You said we were going to go swimming half an hour ago! Why aren't…you…oh, uh, hi Naruto-chan! Ummm, you see…" Naruto laughed.

"Ah come on Anko-chan! Did you really think I didn't know you two started dating? I'm not _that_ dumb!"

"Amazingly enough," Sasuke muttered, earning himself a glare from the two females. Anko turned back to her little sister, gesturing back at Sasuke with her thumb.

"So, Naruto, who's the emo?"

"He's my teammate, Uchiha Sasuke." Anko grinned evily and was about to set in when Iruka, who seen this coming and already gotten up, walked up behind her and whispered in her ear.

"You promise not to make him pee his pants, I'll buy you an extra box of dango when we're done swimming, which we _would_ be doing already, by the way, if Naruto's team hadn't taken so long and were trying to convince Hoakge-sama to give them a higher rank mission." Anko's eyes went pouty as she turned to look over her shoulder at her boyfriend.

"Aw come on Iruka-kuuun; You're no fun!" He laughed.

"Oh really? Then why are you dating me?" She poked him.

"Easy; you're just _so_ good in-"

"HOKAGE-SAMA! Maybe we _should_ give them a c-rank!" Naruto caught Anko giving her a wink and grinned, winking back as a bright red Iruka attempted to divert attention from Anko's somewhat embarrassing comment. Hiruzen sighed.

"Alright, fine; I should have something…ah yes, just in today, an escort mission for Tazuna, a bridge builder from the land of Waves." Naruto pumped her hand in the air as Sasuke smirked in pleasure at their success. Having the hokage's granddaughter came in helpful after all.

"Alright! Now it's time to really shine! We'll show them what we're made of, right team?" Sakura slapped her on the back.

"Heck yeah! We'll whoop butt!" It still freaked Naruto out some that the two of them were actually becoming good friends now. It seemed that being exposed to Sasuke at a higher dosage had decreased the pinkette's fan-girl syndrome to a certain extent, allowing for fairly normal conversation (after Naruto had convinced her that the kiss was an accident and she had absolutely _no_ interest in Sasuke). So, being the friends that they were now, Naruto slung an arm around Sakura's shoulders, pumping her hand in the air and shouting her agreement. Sasuke, on the other hand, maintained his simple, unenthusiastic smirk. The adults in the room sweat dropped and shook their heads at the girls antics.

"[sigh] send in Tazuna and tell him we have his escort ready." A chuunin by the doors nodded and went out, returning a moment later with an old, well built man carrying a half empty bottle of liquor and a towel draped over his shoulder. It was obvious that the bottle had only recently become half empty.

"This is it? They don't look like much, just a bunch of brats, especially that short one with the silly look on their face." Naruto's eye's darkened. She was well aware of how short she was, even for a girl.

"Listen here old man! I'll have you know that you're looking at Naruto and I'm going to be the next hokage, so you better watch your mouth!" The man looked at her in mild amusement, taking another swig from his bottle.

"Well, at least she's got spunk; how do your parents deal with a feisty little girl like yourself, eh?"

It was to the surprise of her teammates that, instead of blowing up, Naruto just got quiet, clenching her fists and looking down at the ground. The hokage cleared his throat, and made a gesture for Anko to put away the kunai she was drawing as she looked in anger at the man.

"Actually, Tazuna san, Naruto's parents died about the time she was born. She was adopted by my son and his wife, but she was still so young she has little memories of them, so it has been up to myself, and Anko here on occasion, to raise her." Tazuna actually looked shocked now.

"You mean to say that that runt there is your granddaughter? Well, looks must be deceiving! With you being her grandfather, I imagine she must be pretty good after all."

"Shut up," Naruto said quietly. "Shut up and stop talking. I don't care what you have to say anymore. You look down at me for my size then try to take it back when you hear who my grandfather is? That's lame! I don't want that respect and neither does otuoto! If you're gonna respect me, respect me for me! Uzumaki Naruto! Kunoichi of Konohagakure!" With that she turned and walked out the door. Anko followed after her (after another glare from the hokage stopped her from doing more than shoving the bridge builder on her way out).

"Well…she's something," he said thoughtfully, looking after the two of them while rubbing his bruised shoulder (Anko didn't exactly shove lightly). "She's got a good head on her shoulders, if you don't mind me saying, Hokage-sama." Hiruzen nodded.

"Yes, I know. All she has to do now is work on her temper." He shuffled some papers. "Well, you may speak with Kakashi, the man with his eye covered, outside. He's the team leader, as you probably guessed, of your escort, a high rank Jounin. You'll find him and his team acceptable, I imagine. Have a nice day." With that they left the room, pausing in the entry way to talk, the two remaining genin eyeing the man who had just ticked off their teammate.

"Alright Tazuna san, we can be ready to leave in an hour, but I'd prefer for my team to have the rest of today to prepare for the trip, so if it's alright with you I'd like to hold off on our departure until tomorrow morning, after breakfast, if you wouldn't mind."

"Yes, that sounds fine to me. Besides, I'd like to apologize to that girl if I see her around before then. It's bad luck to start a journey with resentment like I gave her." Kakashi gave his one eye'd smile.

"Very well. Team 7, pack for three days journey, that should be enough, and go to the front gates immediately after the standard breakfast time." He turned back to the bridge builder. "You should try out Ichiraku Ramen, just off the downtown district," he said, making sure to say it slowly. Sasuke raised an eyebrow as he walked away.

"Yes, I think I'll do that; thank-you, Kakashi san."

"Don't mention it," the Jounin said, waving a hand, his nose already in his favorite book as he walked away.

.

.

.

"Stupid idiot; shouldn't talk about people like that." Naruto was muttering angrily over a bowl of ramen, Anko sitting beside her, trying to placate the girl.

"Hey, you know I think your right, but seriously sis, you need to calm down." She put a hand on her shoulder. "I've been there too, you know." Naruto sighed.

"Yeah, I know, I know. It just made me so mad, him changing his opinion like that just because I was jii-san's granddaughter. I've been hearing Konohamaru complain about it for years, and now I know what he means." She stared at her bowl for a moment. "Mis-underestimating me for my size is one thing, but giving me respect for nothing than being jii-san's granddaughter?" She shook her head. "That just isn't right. It's too much like how people treat Sasuke. I mean, yeah, he's pretty awesome I'll admit- though not as good as me-" she added, "but most of the attention and respect he gets is only because he's the last Uchiha. They weren't all-powerful you know!"

"Hnn; it _does_ get pretty annoying," Sasuke said.

"Yeah, especially that way he acts all stuck up all the-SASUKE! Wh, wh, when did you get here?" Anko was holding a hand over her mouth to cover her grin as Naruto blushed and looked wide eyed at the new comer who just shrugged.

"I was hungry; besides, I thought I'd tell you that the client is coming and he wants to apologize. I figured someone else should tell you before you start yelling at him again and don't listen." Sasuke began to eat his bowl that arrived. In all honesty, he wasn't sure why he'd come. He'd just said the first thing that came to his mind when Naruto asked him. It _was_ true, though. Naruto, spaz that she was, was likely to just go off on the client before listening to him, especially with Anko there. Having observed them commit many pranks, he'd decided that Anko must be very like Naruto…though perhaps more sadistic. She could be quite creepy some times.

"Well, well, well I don't take back what I said! I still say you act stuck up!" he shrugged.

"Fine. I think you act like a dobe, so we're even." He ignored that she was getting red with anger… to a certain extent. "Hmmm, this is pretty good. Where would you rank it?" Naruto's eyes immediately flashed with interest and scrutiny. Sasuke had noticed that Naruto liked talking about Ramen, so he'd decided that the best way to diffuse her anger would be to ask her a question about it. It worked quite well and Naruto began to scrutinize his ramen…though sniffing the noodles on his chopsticks was a little odd, even if it did mean that he got a good look at her nice pink lips…huh? Hnn…annoying thoughts be gone.

"Well, it certainly seems as though finding a seat is getting difficult," a new voice said. Anko immediately jumped up and glomped the next new comer.

"Iruka-kun! You can have my seat, you know, as long as I can sit in yours…" She gave him one of her looks that made him melt. _Crap; how can a woman that can be so scary also be so darn cute_ he thought, sitting down in the vacated seat while she held onto him with her arms around his neck and her legs dangling off on the side.

"Anyways, Naruto, I just wanted to let you know that-"

"That bridge guy is coming to apologize?" Iruka gave her a surprised and confused look.

"Huh? How did you know that?" Naruto gestured.

"Sasuke-tem… er, Sasuke-_san_ already told me," she said, as though bored of the topic. "I'll hear him out, but no promises."

"Well, that's enough for me," the man said, stepping in and looking at Naruto. The girl swiveled in her chair to look at him somewhat coldly, a look she'd been taught by Anko.

"Alright then, go for it." She drummed the fingers on her right hand as her left foot tapped in the air. Coming from such a small girl, it almost looked cute. Not exactly the effect she was going for, but Tazuna had enough sense not to laugh.

"Well, after what you said earlier, I have to admit, I hadn't thought about it that way, and you're right, respect should be earned and not be given solely on who you know or are related to. So, with that in mind, I apologize for not giving you the respect you deserve for the right reasons, and I give it to you _now_ because of who _you_ are; a leaf shinobi with a lot of guts! So, apology accepted?" He stuck out his hand, smiling and giving her a wink and, well, Naruto _was_ always one to believe in and have faith and trust in people. Fortunately for her, this one was sincere. She shook his hand.

"Sounds good to me! Now, while you're here, though, you have _got_ to try some of this ramen! Ichiraku's is the best in town…" Things were certainly getting crowded in the ramen shop. Teuchi and Ayame were, of course, having a lot of fun with cooking and talking to the large number of customers. Ayame gave Naruto some seasoning to go with her cup ramen she was going to pack for the mission (for which Sasuke informed her about when they were leaving and how much to pack) and Teuchi asked Tazuna about ramen in wave country. The man was vague with his answers. Iruka and Anko both noticed, but said nothing, though they decided that later they would look for more information on Wave… after the swim that Iruka owed Anko, of course… and some dango…and maybe something else…

.

.

.

The next day they set out. Besides Tazuna making fun of Naruto a little for never being out of the village before, the trip seemed to be going well. Sakura was asking Tazuna a question about wave country when things seemed to go to heck.

"Tazuna san, in the lad of waves, don't they have their own shinobi?" It was Kakashi that answered, however, from his relaxed slouch as they continued walking.

"Actually, no, not in wave country, they don't. but, in _most_ other countries, while the culture and customs may be different, hidden villages do exists, and so, of course, do shinobi.

"To many most countries of the continent the existence of a shinobi village means military power. That is how they hold and maintain advantages over each other. However, you have to remember that it's not the hidden villages that _rule_ those countries; they merely stand equal to the countries government in all things pertaining to shinobi.

"Now, a small island country, like Tazuna-san's Wave country, doesn't receive much interference form the larger courtiers and so it doesn't really _need_ a Shinobi village. The five major villages, the leaf, sand, mist, cloud and stone, reside in the largest countries and are the most powerful largest themselves. Thus they are called 'The Five Great Shinobi Countries'. Only these countries and villages who's shinobi village leaders receive the title of Kage. The five kage's, Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage, and Tsuchikage, reign over thousands of shinobi, and are considered the elite of the elite."

"Wow! Hokage-sama is the best," Sakura said energetically. However, knowing her like they did, everyone else knew what she was really thinking, and Sasuke even agreed a little. _That lame geezer is that incredible? Sounds fishy…._

"You guys just doubted hokage-sama, didn't you?" Sasuke and Sakura gulped slightly as Naruto smirked. _Yeah, teach 'em to doubt jii-san sensei!_ "Ah, don't let any of that worry you, though," Kakashi said, ruffling Sakura's hair. "There won't be any ninja combat on a c-rank mission."

"Then, we won't be seeing any foreign shinobi," Sakura asked.

"Of course not! Hahaha!" Kakashi kept things light hearted, even as he and Sasuke noted Tazuna's slight flinch at the mention of foreign shinobi. Kakashi, of course, also noticed the puddle of water on the ground that didn't belong there, but said nothing and continued to walk…or at least appeared to as he performed a shadow clone and hid himself off in the tree's, waiting to see what would happen.

Sure enough, a moment later two shinobi from the mist it seemed, based on their headbands, jumped up and attacked his clone. Kakashi was forced to put up a small genjutsu to make it look like he'd been ripped apart, wincing at the shock on his teams faces. _Well, at least now we'll know for sure if it's one of us they're after, or Tazuna, though I'm betting on the latter what with Tazuna's flinching…_

It happened quite quickly, Naruto being their next target. It even amazed Kakashi, however, at how quickly Sasuke moved, stopping them from ensnaring Naruto like 'Kakashi' have been, and getting their chain attack stuck to a tree with one of his kunai. Of course, they detached their chains and jumped back before swiveling their feet and making their next move. They quite clearly attempted to divide Sasuke's attention by going for both Naruto _and_ Tazuna, the former of whom was frozen in fear at their first real combat. What Kakshi didn't expect was for Sasuke to hesitate before deciding wether to jump and help Sakura defend the client, or save Naruto. _Well, I guess it's time to hop back in_, Kakashi thought.

He jumped back onto the road and performed as substitution jutsu with Naruto, knocking out the first mist nin before moving to clothesline the other, his reappearance causing quite the mix of emotions on his companions faces. Sakura was overjoyed that her sensei was alive, Tazuna relived, Naruto confused and flustered as she tried to sort out how she'd gotten where she had, and why she'd frozen. Sasuke, though, he noticed, obviously thought he was being a show off, but deeper in his eyes he saw conflict and questions. _He's probably trying to figure out why he wanted to save Naruto,_ he thought._ Well, I guess Kushina would be happy to know that he best friends son has a crush on her little girl…but I'm not sure that's best for them._

"Naruto," he said, "I'm sorry I didn't save you right away and got you injured, but I didn't think you'd freeze up like that. Anyway, nice job, Sasuke, and Sakura too, at defending the client." He began to tie up his unconscious captives so that he could interrogate them when the woke up. Meanwhile, Naruto was still getting up, thinking on what had just happened.

_I couldn't do anything,_ she thought despairingly, looking over at Sasuke who assuming his usual brooding look. _Yet Sasuke… it was his first _real_ fight. Wasn't he scared at all? He's acting like nothing even happened, and he doesn't even have a speck of dust on him. He even saved _me_…_

"Hey, You alright," Sasuke, forcing a smirk on his face, causing Naruto to blush slightly…until he finished his sentence… "Scaredy cat?" Naruto's face immediately flushed red with anger, though she did wince at the pain coming from her hand where one of the two shinobi had managed to cut her slightly. Kakashi cut in before she could yell at her teammate.

"Naruto, save it for later. It looks like their claws are soaked in poison. We have to remove it quickly, and you getting excited will only make it spread _more_ quickly. We'll have to open the wound more to release the poisoned blood from your body, so like I said, don't get excited, and stay still to keep the poison from spreading." Now he redirected his attention as he was sure the poison wouldn't give Naruto too much trouble. After all, jinchuuriki were notorious for their resistance to poison and speed healing.

"Tazuna-san, I need to talk to you…" a short conversation later, and Kakashi explained how he spotted the mist shinobi and let them attack so he could see who they were after. Tazuna kept mostly silent, only grunting.

"..this mission would have been set as the more expensive b-rank," he continued, letting a little bit of an edge creep into his voice. "I'm sure you have a reason, but it causes problems where you lie about the mission. We're operating outside of our duties now." It was then that Sakura, who had been shaky ever since Kakashi reappeared and knocked out the two mist nin, spoke up.

"We, we aren't ready for this mission," she said, sweat forming on her brow and fear evident on her face. "Let's quit! I mean, we'll need medicine for Naruto's wound, so we should go back to the village and take her to a doctor."

"Hmmm…" Kakashi thought for a moment. They had already had to deal with two chuunin level mist shinobi, Sakura wasn't really the type who would be much use in combat, Naruto had frozen up…only Sasuke _might_ be ready at this point. "This might be a little too much for you right now… I guess we _should_ return to the village to treat Naruto." He missed the desperate look in the blond girl's eyes as he spoke, her sudden movement mildly surprising him; it was that she was stabbing her own hand to get the blood out that shocked him and everyone else.

"Naruto! What are you doing," screamed Sakura as her teammates blood poured out of her hand.

"I'm not going to need saving ever again," she said, glaring at the kunai in her hand. "I swear, on the pain the pain in my hand that I won't, and with this kunai," continued, looking over her shoulder at the rest of the group, "I'll protect the old man. We're continuing the mission!"

* * *

**And that's a wrap! (for this chapter, anyways). Like the stopping point? i thought it was a good spot to do so. But next chapter will be the continuation of the wave mission, coming home, and the reappearance of the rest of the sand sibs! YAY! Personally, i'm looking forward to adding them back in. Oh, also, more romantic drama and love... triangles? squares? pentagons? Or do you just always call it a triangle? but there will be some of that coming up**

**Please review and tell me what you think, especially if you have advice (in a constructive, NON-flame format) of how i can improve. Include where i made grammar/spelling errors and i will go back and correct them. Thanks!**

**Final note, i thought i had this one on my story alert list, but can't seem to find it anywhere, but i'm looking for a naruto time travel fic where Minato survived, and I think Kushina turned out to be a ghost the whole time, also coming back in time, and Minato manges to get here back into a body. Just trying to find out what it was called, so if anyone recognizes this one, please tell me.**

**Have a good one!**


	10. Mission and Advanced Training

**As you may have noticed (cough cough), it's been a LONG time...sorry! Please forgive me! I've been, need i say it? busy. My parents are doing some remodeling of our house, and my grandpa is the handyman just right for the job...and i tend to be his best assistant. In addition, while we DID have 3 cars, the transmission in the car i was using for my pizza delivery job died, so now we're juggling two cars to get my parents both to work, and then for me to drive at all! Car is kind of important in pizza delivery...**

**It's been busy. However, i'm putting my other stories on hiatus until this one is done, and i'm putting up the last update for them today as well to put them all on hiatus, so i'll be able to focus on NotS until it's done! This should ensure that i FINALLY get back to a bi-weekly update , in this chapter, expect to get halfway through the wave mission. I'm up late writing as it is, and really need to sleep, and it was taking longer than i meant to get it all written and up, so i apologize for not completing the wave mission today, but i AM trying to skim over the stuff that i expect you guys to already know, just putting in a few of the little changes here and there. I hope you like them. Of course, we'll be having some extra company arriving soon for our favorite team 7!**

**Well, that's enough rambling. Read, review, enjoy!**

**disclaimer-work of fiction based on a work of fiction that has elements from _other_ works of fiction besides that... but the point is: i don't own a _lick_ of this stuff (even if i wish i did...)**

* * *

"You dobe!" Sasuke said, walking over to her quickly. "You lose this much blood and not only will it get the poison out, but you'll die," he said, roughly grabbing her hand.

"Ow! Hey, I know that! I, I just hadn't gotten the bandages out yet!" Naruto fumed as her teammate began to bandage her hand. In truth, she _should_ have known. Anko had made sure she knew about the importance of blood to the body, and to several jutsu. She'd told her that one day she'd train her with snake summons, but first she needed to kill her old sensei, Orochimaru. She always had a grim face when she mentioned him, but it was hard for Naruto to find out anything about Anko's teacher. She'd asked jii-san about him once, but all he said was that he had once been a pupil of his who betrayed the village, then he turned around to hide the tears that came down his face, but he'd forgotten about the reflection in the mirror. Naruto never wanted to make the old man cry like that again, so she never asked.

Of course, all that was beside the point of the moment. _Now_ she needed to get Sasuke off of her and stop making her look stupid. It was bad enough that Sakura was spouting off about how impressive it was that Sasuke knew so much about first aid. She snatched her hand away.

"I can do it myself, thank-you very much," she said, turning away so she could wrap her hand.

"Hmph; see if I try to help _you_ again," Sasuke said.

"I didn't ask for your help, you know!" There was a moment of silence.

"We're a team, aren't we?" Naruto looked over her shoulder in surprise. Sasuke had his hands in his pockets again, looking from her, nose in the air, all snobby like. Still…

"Yeah, I guess so…thanks," she said quietly. Kakashi smiled. It looked like they were going to get along fine after all. After Sakura started getting more serious about being a Kunoichi than a fan girl, anyways. He'd seen her test scores, and she had brains _and_ good chakra control, but she had a lot more growing up left to do to be on par with her teammates…well, with Sasuke, anyways. Naruto was only a few steps above, but her mother _had_ always been like that, too; impulsive and explosive. He grinned at the memories before Tazuna spoke up and finally explained what was going on.

Naruto furrowed her brow as she tried to remember the few times Gato's name had come up when she was hanging around the hokage office. She knew he was a super rich guy, and she thought she remembered a few protection or assassination missions being called in on account of this guy. She felt like she had a sour taste in her mouth for the rest of the trip to wave as she thought about the hard times Tazuna said had come to their land. It didn't help that Sasuke, and even Sakura, would ask now and then if her hand was okay. She even ripped off the bandage to show them that the bleeding had stopped only for them to give her stunned looks complete with dropped jaws over the fact that her hand was already healed with minimal scarring tissue.

"How, how did you heal that fast?" Naruto cringed. _Crap, this must be one of those things the kyuubi does…I thought it was normal!_ "Uh, jii-san said that um, that my mom was a fast healer; yeah! She was a fast healer." She smiled as she looked down at her weapons pouch. "Actually, jii-san said my mom was a kick-a Kunoichi in her day." She pointed at her the metal plate on pouch. "This was actually hers," she said. "It was my graduation present from jii-san."

"Wow!" Sakura began to ask questions about her mom, but Naruto only had the little that Sarutobi had told her; her mouth came from somewhere else and stay to become a ninja.

"Well, in that case, would could probably go through the records on old genin and find the ones who came from somewhere else before going to the academy. It would take some time, but working together, we should be able to do it, right?"

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Kakashi said, speaking up for the first time in a while. Everyone turned to look at him, but Sasuke was the one who asked the question.

"You know who her mother is, sensei?" Kakashi shrugged, but inwardly he was sweating.

"Her mother would have been several years older than me; it's possible, but the chances are slim. Really, though, if hokage-sama thinks it's unwise to tell even _you_ who you're mother is, he must have a good reason for it." _Like making sure no one can make the connection between you and Minato-sensei and then have their revenge on him through you; Sorry, Naruto, but you're not ready yet. The more people that know, the more likely it is that everyone will know. Besides, not even Hokage-sama knows your whole story; not just yet…_

Still, Naruto liked the idea. She just started planning with Sakura how to do their research. Kakashi decided to wait until a better time to talk her out of it. Hopefully a good opportunity would present itself soon, but either way he'd have to tell the hokage about it. It might be a good idea to remove all of Kushina's records anyway, just in case anyone else made the connection.

Soon, though, they were floating beneath the uncompleted bridge on the way to wave. Naruto marveled at the size of it and all the mist surrounding them. You didn't see many sites like this back in Konoha.

"Good luck," the ferryman said, pushing off again.

"Same to you, friend." As they walked down the path from there all seemed to be fine until Naruto jumped and threw a shuriken at snow white rabbit.

"Ah, no! I'm sorry bunny! Please be okay!" Kakashi's eye narrowed. _A snow white rabbit in the middle of summer? This is just like a puddle when there hasn't been rain for days. This is probably in preparation for a replacement jutsu._

"Everyone down!" And there he was, the demon of the mist, Zabuza. It was a short battle really, though for a few moments they didn't think that they'd make it out. Kakashi was caught in a water prison and the man had made a water clone. However, _this_ time Naruto hadn't frozen up, though Zabuza did take away her headband for a moment there in her initial attack. She gritted her teeth in frustration before formulating a new plan. She then grinned and used the shadow clone jutsu to try and rush him, trusting Sasuke to see through her ploy. It worked; he saw what she was doing and played right along with her. He threw her in her disguised form at the real Zabuza who was forced to dodge and release their sensei from the missing nin's water prison jutsu. The battle was over soon after that, Kakashi showing the might of the sharingan. Naruto had to admit that she was impressed, but then, right before Kakashi was about to make the final blow, his kill was interrupted by a young mist hunter nin. He didn't look to be any older than Naruto and her teammates.

_Wow, he's strong_, Naruto thought. _How can he be so strong already? Anko and jii-san never said anyone could be like that, and he's already a hunter nin!_

"Hey you! What's going on? What do you think you're doing here!"

"Don't worry Naruto, he's not the enemy…"

"I don't care about that," she shouted. "That Zabuza guy was really strong, and he was killed by this _kid_! He's not any older than us, so how am I supposed to sit around and take that?" Kakashi sighed and told her about the possibilities of strength from any age, and how that was just how the world worked. Naruto didn't miss Sasuke's look of anger and slight shock as he stood behind Kakashi. _Does this have something to do with his 'ambition'?_

Before the conversation could progress further, the hunter nin jumped down to the body and disappeared in a flash, just before a barrage of arrived, covering both the tree and the ground where the two shinobi had been. Team seven and Tazuna looked up in surprise.

"Yo," Kakashi said, greeting the new arrivals with his eye smile. He'd sensed them coming a few moments ago. "Nice to see you…Iruka-san, Anko-san." The two of them were up in a tree, Anko crouched down while Iruka was standing. Both were breathing heavily.

"Nice to see you two, idiot. You better be glad we just saved your butt!"

"Wha?" The three genin looked shocked. Hadn't the threat been taken care of? The two newly arrived Konoha shinobi jumped and landed lightly on the ground.

"Oh, I could have pushed a little further if I needed too," Kakashi said, "but now that you're here, I think a little nap is in order…" and with that he landed flat on his face.

"Sensei!"

.

.

.

The rest of the walk was rather uneventful, though the first think Anko did after they assured the young teens that their sensei was just exhausted from his use of the sharingan, was grab Tazuna by his shirt and lift him up in the air.

"Do you have any idea what I'm going to do to you for putting my sister in danger like this? Lieing about a mission is _not_ a small deal! People DIE for things like this! I hope you've already had some kids, 'cause I'm about to make that impossible!" She'd reached back her arm to swing it but Naruto had jumped in. She was able to calm Anko down slightly; after all, Naruto had to admit, she understood, some, why the man had done what he did, and she owed him one for giving her respect. Of course, that didn't stop her from giving the old man very scary glares for the rest of the trip, but she was brought in by Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, to help look after Kakashi...until it was realized that she had no skill at healing and all the helpful input she could provide was that he had fainted from exhaustion and would take about a week to recover.

"Iruka sensei, why are you and Anko chan here?" Iruka scratched the back of his head. He wasn't sure how to put it because, while he _was_ mad at Tazuna, just like Anko _and_ the Hokage, he knew that Naruto was feeling sympathetic towards the man's situation…and so was he.

"Well, we're not really supposed to say until Kakashi is awake again. All I'll tell you for now is that we've been assigned to aid you for the rest of this mission as there is more to Tazuna than he originally claimed." The main grimaced as Iruka shot him an angry glare.

"Yeah, so? That's the way things work, sensei; if a man like Gato wants to try and make trouble, then if don't cut people some slack those men are going to keep getting away with it just because they have more money! I don't care if jii-san wants us home because of that; I'm staying!" With that she sat down heavily, crossing her legs and folding her arms, giving him a glare that _dared_ him to contradict her. He stared at her for a moment before laughing. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Naruto, if the hokage was going to send us back home, he'd have done it already, even if Kakashi sensei needs rest. We're stay put for now, and they're going to be our back up."

"Hey! I, I _knew _that! I, I was just trying to make a point!"

"Naruto-chan, everyone knows you're lying right now," Sakura said. "It doesn't really matter; Sasuke-kun is just so smart he was able to figure it out." Naruto cringed.

"Okay fine, I didn't know…" The next hour passed idly by as the students talked with their former teacher. There was a mild interruption when Anko returned giving Iruka a big hug and a kiss, grossing out Sasuke, the emotionless person that he was, scaring Sakura with the kunoichi's ferocity and making Naruto roll her eyes.

"Get a room!" She was rewarded with a lump on her head, courtesy of Anko, and conversation resumed. Soon enough, Tsunami called everyone in with the announcement that Kakahsi was awake.

.

.

.

As often happened in his dreams, Kakashi was back at that night twelve years ago. Every time he would try and save Rin from her fate, but then something would hold him back, something would stop him. His dreams never even had the decency to let him die with her. The closest he got were dreams where she appeared to him as a spirit, decrying him for letting her die, for not saving her. He screamed and screamed, he tried harder the next time, he tried to hold her to stop her from jumping out to find that he was holding the wrong person and she was already being sent flying by the great beast.

Then he woke up. His body was in pain though he could tell without even opening his eyes that he was laying down inside on a soft mattress. There was a thin blanket resting over him, helping him to stay warm in the slightly cooler weather of the wave country. Ah, good, he could still sense team seven, and Anko and Iruka. Well, it was probably time to get up; the sooner he was awake, the sooner he could occupy his mind with something besides those dreams.

There was a woman standing over him with a damp cloth, reaching down as though she was about to replace one. He realized that he did indeed have his headband off, a warmer cloth resting on his forehead. As he made to sit up the woman tried to keep him down.

"No Kakashi san, don't get up. You fainted from exhaustion, Anko-san said, and you've been running a terrible fever."

"Meh meh, not to worry," he said, though he grimaced inwardly as more pain ran through his body as he sat up. "I was having a nightmare is all; it happens frequently. My body simply reacts as though I'm actually having a fever to help me out of it." She shook her head.

"That's ridiculous; I've never heard of such a thing!" He shrugged.

"Well, I'm an odd man," he said, looking around. "I don't suppose you could send in my fellow shinobi, including my genin? I need to talk with them." Tsunami gave him a disapproving eye, but nodded and stood. _Hmm, she reminds me of Rin, the way she would look after me when I got those couple of times…_ he shook his head. Now wasn't the time to be thinking of that. It was hard enough dreaming about it; it just hurt more when he started thinking about it when he was awake. It was a dull ache that never disappeared, not completely.

"Sensei! What happened? Why did you faint like that?" Kakashi gave Naruto a reassuring eye smile.

"Oh, the sharingan has its uses, but sometimes I overdue it, and Zabuza was a tougher opponent than one usually gets. But right now I'm more interested as to why Iruka and Anko are here," he said, his face turning more serious as he turned his eye towards the other two adult shinobi. Iruka was the one who spoke.

"After talking with Tazuna and Naruto the night before you all left, Anko and I had a feeling that there was more going on than Tazuna was letting on…"

"Yeah, and we were right," Anko said, shooting another glare at the aging bridge builder. "We made a few inquiries and checks and discovered that a man called Gato was moving in here, and he's been known to hire high level missing nin to help him accomplish his less…_charitable_ business endeavors. Wave country happens to be his _latest_ interest…"

"And so we went to Hokage-sama and told him what we found out." He looked over at Naruto. "He actually wanted to pull you back immediately, but Anko and I reminded him that you'd never forgive him for taking you away from your first mission outside the village, so instead, he sent us as back-up for team seven in case Gato really was involved…and it looks like it was a good thing, too." Anko snorted.

"No kidding! That kid could have taken you all out in a blink if we hadn't shown up; Kakashi, what have you been doing since they let you out of Anbu? Sit on your arse all day reading those darn books of yours?" Kakashi rolled an eye.

"Huh? What kid," Sakura asked. Kakashi answered.

"Actually, she's talking about the 'hunter nin' that 'killed' Zabuza." All who had been present looked at Kakashi with slacked jaws.

"What!" Kakashi nodded, eye grim.

"Yes, it was all a hoax. I first realized it when I felt Iruka and Anko closing in. I wondered, what else could bring them here, unless they realized even more than we did. Well, even though it turns out it wasn't much more than we has already discovered, it made me think, and I realized, even as I was talking to you Naruto, that as a hunter nin, he should have been using a different type of weapon to kill Zabuza. While senbon can be great for assassinations and all, they're not normal since they have to hit a vital spot to actually be fatal.

"Also, he didn't destroy the body right then and there; he carried him away. If he felt an attack coming, he would have waited to try and explain his situation before fleeing, possibly even just using a jutsu to destroy the body.

"So I realized, that Hunter nin was simply getting Zabuza away, _saving_ him. They knew that I had enough power left to handle them for a few moments and still kill Zabuza, who is obviously their leader, and sensing that two more possible enemies were closing in, they decided to fly and fight another day." He sighed. "My sharingan probably won't work as well the second time, but it will still give me an advantage, and they most likely don't know about Iruka and Anko, in terms of their skill, so we have another advantage there."

"Wait a second," Tazuna said, "you mean that demon is still alive?" Kakashi nodded.

"Yes, but we've got about a week to prepare for them, I'd say. Right Anko?" The woman nodded.

"Knowing as much as I do, from that glance I saw of him, those senbon will only put him down a few days. I'd actually give him a week tops for a full recovery, since it's the demon of the mist we're talking about."

"Wait, don't you think you're over thinking this?" It was Tazuna speaking. "If it was me, I'd run and do a more thorough job than a situation like that would allow. Missing nin's are supposed to kill missing nins." The adult shinobi shared a glance before shaking their heads.

"No," Kakashi said. "The few days we have are days that we need to prepare before it's too late. That's the way a shinobi works."

"Wait a minute, you said yourself that Zabuza was dead, didn't you sensei? And what do you mean prepare before it's too late; you can barely even move!" Kakashi gave a slightly embarrassed eye smile to Sakura, noting the grin on Naruto's face at the idea of Zabuza being alive. _Probably wants to measure herself against that other kid in a real battle. Hokage-sama said that she was like that._

Well, I did, but those senbon can _also_ be used to put someone in a temporary state of death, right Anko?" The kunouchi grinned evilly.

"Oooooh, yes; along with a few other uses. I rememeber this one time…" she was cut off by Iruka's hand.

"Sorry," he said, "but you were about to scare the kids _and_ the clients." He looked over to the two shocked Wave county inhabitants as Anko glared at him and acted as though she was trying to uncover her mouth. Those more familiar with her could tell she was being playful, for which Iruka was grateful. She _was_ stronger than him, after all. "You see, she's a member for T&I, and she enjoys it, so she can be a little…_descriptive_ about her work out of context." She started poking him hard and their odd form of flirting remained in the background while the genin and civilians tried to focus on Kakashi and ignore the weird shinobi.

"Anyways, just because I can't move much doesn't mean _you_ can't train." Naruto's and even Sasuke's faces lit up at the prospect, but Sakura was incredulous.

"Are you kidding sensei! What's a little training for us going to do against an opponent like Zabuza who even gave you trouble when you used your sharingan?"

"Sakura, who saved me when Zabuza had me trapped in that water prison?" Iruka and Anko stopped their fooling around in surprise; that hadn't been told that Kakashi had gotten trapped. The kids had actually saved him? Kakashi continued as he saw Sakura and the others beginning to understand. "You guys are all growing quickly, even though he may not have noticed…" after all, you refuse to see the extra training in all those d-ranks you get assigned, no matter how obvious I try to make it… "Especially you, Naruto," he said.

"Of course," he continued, not giving Naruto a chance to shout out how awesome she was, "this is just training until I get better. You three alone still wouldn't be a match for Zabuza without me, and even with Iruka and Anko it would difficult to _survive_, besides him having his partner." This time Naruto spoke up, though it was clear that Sakura still had doubts and her brains were over analyzing every point.

"So, we train during the few days that it will take for him to recover, just like Anko-chan said, right sensei? This is gonna be fun!"

"That's not fun," a small voice said. They turned to see a small boy in the doorway. He looked angry and spiteful.

"Who the heck are you," Naruto yelled, though she was ignored while the boy walked up to the old bridge builder and gave him a small hug.

"Inarai? Where were you all this time," the man yelled; it was evident that he cared a lot for the small boy, insolent sounding though he was, even as he welcomed the man.

"Welcome back, grandpa." There was a small, akward pause.

"Inari, say hello to our guests. They're shinobi from Konohagakure who protected grandpa. The boy only spared them a small, belittling glance, then turned to his mother, pointing at them, and spoke.

"Mom, they're going to die…" The result was Naruto (and Anko) being restrained by their respective peers as the boy conitued on about how no one could defeat Gato. He even made fun of Naruto's declaration that she would be Hokage, and a great hero. He left the room as everyone tried to calm the two kunouchi down. Naruto still pushed through, walking after the brat, intent on beating some sense into the kid, but as she found the boy in his room, she noticed he was crying over a picture, saying 'dad' over and over again. Her heart melted.

_This Gato probably killed his dad and he's lost his heart; well, I'll just have to prove that I can be hero, that they really do exist_! She clenched her fist as she walked back down the hallway. _I'm going to train good and hard, just you wait Inari; this time _Gato's_ going to be the one dying…_

.

.

.

Training turned out to be tree walking. Iruka grimaced when Kakashi began to explain the exercise. _This is advanced stuff; we didn't learn it till we'd been genin a few months. It _will_ help with their control, but does he actually think that they can master this?_ Anko was thinking differently. _Well, it's earlier than I would have done it, but I know Naruto's ready at least. I was just about to get her going on this type of exercise anyways, and she's got that Uchiha kid on her team; he's supposed to be good, and despite her freakin' big mouth and forehead, it looks like that pink headed girl actually knows what she's doing…_

The two other shinobi were shocked when they saw the results of the first attempt. Sasuke actually managed to go up several yards before having to stop. They winced as Naruto fell right down. _And here I thought I'd taught her better than that…_ but it was jaw dropping as they saw Sakura sitting high up on a branch, huge smile on her face. Anko moved to give Naruto some advice, but she saw Kakashi shaking his head, and she backed off. _What's he doing? If they're going to face off against Zabuza again we need to help them get better as fast as possible?_ Iruka leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"I know how it feels, but trust him. The best way for them to learn is to do it themselves, learning how to think the right way, because then it become habit and it'll come to them easier as they continue to progress. Besides, Naruto's doing much better this time." Anko looked over and noticed that it was true. Naruto had actually been rushing too hard the first time, forgetting everything Anko and jii-san had taught her, but then she'd taken a moment to recall it, and she'd gone up several feet. She also noticed that the Uchiha, who hadn't spared a second glance at the pink girl, was eyeing Naruto from the side. _Hmmm…looks like my sis has a secret admirer!_

The day continued much like this, though Sakura began to tire relatively quickly as Naruto and Sasuke kept going. Naruto did, at one point, take notice of how good Sakura was doing and, though she didn't want to insult Anko's teaching by looking for more, went over and asked for advice. Sakura laughed at gave it too her. Of course, Anko and Iruka had gone off a little ways to do their own intense training. Kakashi had told them to focus instead on fighting a kenjutsu style and senbon attacks alternatively, but to keep an eye out for spies and hide the moment they noticed anything. So Anko summed a few smaller snakes to keep an eye out. She never noticed.

The next day Sakura was guarding Tazuna at the bridge. Naruto and Sasuke had yet to attain to her level, but Naruto was basically equal, if not a little ahead of Sasuke. _Ha, I'm beating him! He may have been the cutest boy in class but- AHH! NO! I can't become a fan girl! Focus, focus Naruto!_ She shook her head. She'd been noticing that she was actually starting to enjoy being around Sasuke more than when they had started as a team. She was beginning to notice her blushes, but that only made them worse, she was resorting to being more rude in an effort to cover it up, but she kept stealing glances at him. _No, he's Sakura's! She's my friend, and she liked him first! I can't go liking him when I promised that I didn't! Focus!_

Of course, right at that moment, Sasuke came over, blushing furiously.

"H, hey, Naruto…" She fell flat on her face, startled as she had been running to the tree. She picked herself up and turned to glare at him.

"What the heck! Can't you see I'm concentrating here?" She noticed Sasuke's eye twitch. _Huh…he only does that when he really doesn't want to do something…_

"You, you asked advice from Sakura earlier? What did she tell you?" Naruto looked at him in shock. _Wow…he's asking advice from _me_? No wonder he didn't want to do it. After all, I _was_ 'dead last'…thanks to Mizuki…._ She thought for a moment, then looked down.

"A, alright…she said…." The continued to progress, and somehow the spirit lightened up. They both felt it, and once they even smiled at each other as they rested up before having another go at the tree, but they quickly turned from each other and ran at their respective tree's again.

_Kushina-san, I can't help but think you'd be happy seeing your daughter getting along with your best friends son…in their own fashion, of course._ Kakashi smiled from his hiding place. _How proud I am…I just wish you all had had the chance to be proud of her…_

* * *

**So, to be honest, though i keep planning on the sand sibs appearing at the end of teh same chapter that the wave ends in, i've got some more side stuff, like pairing drama, that i need to get in, so it may be another chapter after the wave, especially if it keeps taking me so long to write. **

**Meanwhile, let me know what you think of how Anko and Iruka are. I hope i'm writing them to your satisfaction. :) As you may have noticed, several possible pairings that i have tried to make obvious are NaruSasu, NaruKiba, and KibaHina. This is where alot of that drama i was mentioning is going to be happening, and i may even through in something else you weren't expecting! You never know... But that's a little hint of things to come in that arena.**

**Besides that, since i feel generous (and trying to relive some guilt for taking so long on this update and a continual pushing off of the sand sibs reappearance), the sand sibs have almost forgotten about Naruto, and Gaara actually believes he was dreaming it, being told by Yashamaru that his mother died with him. It's an effort of his father's to control him and make him into a weapon. We'll see if Yashumaru is as willing to do the Kazakage's bidding as we go along, due to the changed elements. Temari and Kankuro just don't talk about it as they decided to keep it a secret, but the general situation has made it hard for Temari especially to show affection for her brother. It will be at the incident that Konohamaru bumps into Kankuro that they realized who she is and Gaara begins to realize his dreams were..._not_ dreams.**

**Well, that's all the spoilers for now. Hope ya'll had a good Halloween, and i hope you have a good thanksgiving too! (though i hope to get in another update or two well before _that_ comes around!)**


	11. The Waves

**Longest, chapter, EVER! Lol, my gosh. I've been working like crazy trying to get this done, but especially when i want to check stuff from the story online, someone else needs the internet and i have to wait!**

**Anyways, this is the end of the wave mission. Fights and everything get taken care off, and instead of just summing them up, i'm actually going into a little detail this time. However, i _did_ still do some summing up, just because it was driving me nuts that it was taking this long. I hope the length of the chapter makes up for any lack of details.**

**Also, there was one thing i did in this chapter that i totally didn't plan on. It just kind of happened as i was writing, but i like it. Keep your eyes out for the change!**

**Well, enough of that, here' the chapter you've all been waiting for the last two weeks. Ladies and gentleman, Naruto of the Sand, chapter 11!**

**disclaimer- don't own Naruto, just having fun and practicing my writing for future personal endeavors.**

**RR&E! Read review and enjoy!**

* * *

"It was horrible," Sakura said as she brushed Naruto's long hair. The two girls were sitting on the futon they were sharing while they stayed at Tazuna's home. Naruto had her knees pulled up and was holding them to her while Sakura kneeled behind her, brush in hand. Naruto, left to her own devices, would rarely keep her hair in order, so Sakura made her sit and let her do it every night. Though she'd eat escargot before she'd admit it, she did like how much better it looked…especially when Sas, er, that is, when certain people looked at it. Of course, right now she was listening to Sakura's account of her and Tazuna's trip into town earlier, and it was sickening her.

"Everywhere I looked there were kids that looked like they were only skin and bones! I gave some of our food to this one kid, and I don't think they'd eaten in days, and they didn't even eat it all themselves. I think they shared it with some of the other kids." Naruto clenched her fists.

"If I ever meet this Gato, I'm gonna kill him!" Sakura looked at her teammate in shock.

"But Naruto-chan, he's surrounded by powerful people, like Zabuza; how would you get close enough?" Naruto looked over her shoulder, grin on her face.

"Hey, we're shinobi too! I'll find a way; whether it's today or ten days, or ten _years_ from now, I'm gonna make sure he dies!" Sakura smiled, putting a hand on the blonds shoulder.

"Yeah, you will," she said. She had to admit, even if the girl was a spaz, she had a way of making you believe in her. Why did everyone hate her so much, if she was so good? Why had _she_ hated her? That question bothered her a lot as she got closer to her teammate, and she had yet to find a satisfactory answer to that question. With that, they continued their nightly tradition.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was meditating in the room he shared with Kakashi, who was resting against the far wall, watching his pupil. _I wonder what's going through his mind? Is it the training? He has been working hard at it… or could it be Itachi?_ He sighed when he thought about his onetime teammate from the anbu. He'd been very gentle, it had seemed. He still wasn't sure if it was an act, or if there was something bigger that what everyone else saw. Just then Sasuke opened his eyes and looked up.

"Sensei, what's so special about Naruto?" Kakashi gave him a surprised look. _Well, guess I really _should_ have seen that one coming…_

"What do you mean?"

"I've been making it on my own, so I haven't had too many people tell me what other adults tell their kids about Naruto, but I…mom said…" he shook his head, banishing thoughts of grief. Such emotions could do him no good. No, if he wallowed in grief, he could not avenge them. "Why?" Kakashi remained quiet for a moment.

"Naruto's a scapegoat, you could say. People always feel a need to take out their anger on someone or something, and most everyone in the village picked her."

"For what?" Kakashi shook his head.

"I really shouldn't have told you that much. It's not my place." He winced as he moved over to where his pillow and blanket were, preparing to sleep for the next day. "Naruto knows why, so you'll have to wait until she feels like telling you to get an answer. Night!" Sasuke glared and rolled his eyes.

_Hn, that's stupid… but I guess, if it's something like that…but what could have happened?_ He shook his head and stood, turning out the light, and going to bed himself. _Cute girl, er, _girl_ like that, doesn't deserve blind hate. I'll figure it out._ He laid down, putting his hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling for a little while before he, too, fell asleep.

.

.

.

The next day continued to show a small bit of improvement for the two remaining members of team 7. They had yet to reach the lower branches of the tall trees that Kakashi had picked for them to climb, but they were getting closer. They could now climb quite a few meters up, but they had yet to reach the level Sakura had. Anko was resting from her own training to watch her sister when Iruka came up behind her, grabbing her in a hug.

"She's really something, isn't she?" Anko smiled, leaning back into her boyfriend.

"Yeah; I have to admit that I thought Kakashi was a bit crazy when he said he was going to start all this so early, but he has a good team, doesn't he?" Iruka smiled, nodding.

"Yes, he does. Those three may have the most potential of all their age group, but then again, I think _all_ of this group is going to go on to do something great."

"Huh, you're just biased because you taught them." He laughed.

"Maybe, but so far these three are proving me right." Anko rolled her eyes, but turned her head to give him a small kiss on the cheek.

"Whatever; we need to get back to training soon, though."

"Yeah, we do…"

Naruto, for her part, was well aware that Anko and Iruka were here now, and she was doing her best to show them how much she was growing and improving from where she had been before. She was quite please with herself. After she had given Sasuke the advice that Sakura had given her, they'd both been increasing at the same pace, keeping relatively even with each other. It was hard to tell when one got ahead of the other. Of course, she still needed to improve more so she could show that little boy, Inari, that she could be a hero and fulfill her dreams. After last night, she was beginning to understand, maybe, why that seemed so hard for him to believe.

Sasuke, at that moment, was looking over at Naruto on the sly. More and more he was finding himself doing that. He remembered how much of a dobe she was in the academy, and even though he kept calling her that, he didn't really think it anymore. She…was impressive. Sensei wasn't kidding when he said that she'd improved the most since they became a team. She wasn't that same lame kid. She was growing, and he was, in spite of himself, starting to like her, and believe in her dreams.

He shook his head. No, he had to concentrate. Concentration was key to fulfilling his _own_ dream. He couldn't start liking anyone…

.

.

.

That night Naruto and Sasuke were both eating voraciously. Sakura was actually losing her appetite watching them.

"Naruto, how can you eat so much!" Naruto paused for a moment to grin.

"Hey, the more you eat, the more energy you get, and so the stronger you can get later, and I need to get as strong as I can!"

"Huh, I never thought of that…I just thought eating more would make you fat!" Kakashi and Tsunami laughed, which caught Kakashi off guard; it was the same way Rin would have laughed…this was becoming a rather hard mission for him, emotionally speaking. Because of his pause, however, Tsunami was the one who remarked first.

"Oh, I remember being like that when I was younger; father here had to make me eat or I would have been as thin as a twig!" She then gave Sakura a wink as she continued. "You wouldn't believe how many of the boys started flirting with me when I got a little more meat on my bones." Sakura asked for seconds and finished that off before taking a walk around the room looking at the various pictures on the wall. Most of them were pictures or paintings of bridges. She felt she had a pretty good idea as to who picked out most of the decoration in this room. Then she came to one that was a bit different; she remembered that Inari had glanced over at it a lot while she was still sitting at the table. Now that she was next to it, she saw that it looked to be a family portrait…and that the upper right corner of it had been torn out.

"hey, why do you have a torn picture on the wall," she asked. "Inari was staring at this during dinner, but it looks like someone purposely took out one of the people that was in the picture." All three members of the household froze in whatever they were doing and everything was completely quiet. Finally, Tsunami answered.

"It was my husband," she said, quietly, but Tazuna didn't let it rest there…

"And, the man they once called a 'hero' here…" At that Inari abruptly pushed himself away from the table and began to walk away.

"Inari where are you going," he mother called out, concern in her voice. "Inari!" She looked back and glared at her father, though pain and sorrow were also evident on her face. "Father, you know better than to talk about him when Inari is around! Inari!" She left, seeking to comfort her son, and attention was focused on the old man who was now only slowly stirring his soup as the group waited for him to explain. After a few minutes of silence Sakura spoke up.

"So, what's wrong with Inari?" The old man finally sighed and looked up to explain. He told them of how Inari used to smile and laugh all the time, especially after he found the man that he called father.

The man's name had been 'Kaiza', and he had been a fisherman. He and Inari had met when Inari had been bullied by some of the other kids. They'd stolen his dog and dropped it in the sea, followed by Inari who didn't know how to swim and was afraid to jump in and save his dog. He'd passed out and woken up under a blanket Kaiza had, drying out next to a fire with fish cooking in it.

"'Protect it with these two arms', he used to say," Tazuna said. "He was what he always said after that, whenever something would happen that scared Inari, or even others in the village…" He went on to explain that Inari had come to look up to the man and introduced Kaiza to Tsunami; the two had hit it off well from the start, and soon they were married, and the man had become Inari's father.

He had wanted to be exactly like him, even wearing a knotted rope around his forehead like the tough young fisherman. They did everything together, and Kaiza even taught him how to swim.

"Of course, it was the flood that really made him a hero to the village," he continued. One day, the old man said, there was a terrible storm, and it flooded the river, causing the dam to open. No one was willing to risk their lives to attempt the difficult swim across the river so that they could close the dam, even thought it would mean the loss of a good part of the village. Kaiza stepped forward, even though everyone tried to talk him out of it, and he made it! He saved the village, and he became their hero for his courage and strength of body and will. The old man shook his head, wiping tear drops from his eyes and taking a moment before continuing.

"Sadly, it wasn't long after that that _Gato_ came to our land; he came with his thugs and cowed everyone into subservience…"

"And then the incident that made Inari like he is happened," Kakashi prompted. Tazuna nodded.

"Yes; for defying him, Gato cut off his arms and then publicly executed him." He took off his glasses for a moment and gripped between his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "It was especially hard on the boy, and became like you see him now. _Everyone_ changed that day when they saw their hero die so…_helplessly_." Anko scoffed, causing everyone to look at her.

"Well, you said that he said you had to be willingly to give your life; apparently, no one in this village, except maybe you, understood what he meant. They all just gave in? What a bunch of wimps; _none_ of them knows what courage is, or they'd have fought Gato then and there!" Tazuna smiled sadly.

"I'm glad you think I might have some courage, but remember, I didn't do anything either. I sat there and cried, then decided to make a bridge." He laughed in morbid amusement.

"I don't know," Iruka said. "Sometimes we just get shocked when we lose someone. However, I'd say that you're fighting just as much as Kaiza, but in a different way. Maybe one day, _you'll_ be called a hero, for making this bridge even as everyone around you runs away."

"Hey Naruto, where are you going," Sakura asked, and everyone else realized that while Anko and Iruka had been talking, Naruto had gotten up and was walking towards the door. She turned around. _Uh oh, _Anko thought_, she's got here 'crazy grin'_ _on_. She shook her head and grabbed Sasuke as he got up to follow her.

"Nah uh little boy; not even _I_ can talk her out of things, no matter how crazy they are, when she get's _that_ look on her face." Sasuke looked a mite perturbed by being grabbed and shook free of her.

"She'll probably train all night and fall asleep in the woods. It'll be better to try and convince her then."

"What? She'll really stay out there all night?" Anko nodded to the pinkette whose eyes were wide in surprise.

"When she puts her mind to something, like proving that hero's exist, in this case, she'll keep her word, doing whatever she feel's will be best to make those things come true. You just have to wait a day or two before you suggest alternative methods to achieve her goals." Sasuke sat back down, but he, and Sakura, were fidgety for the rest of the night.

Naruto, of course, worked out well into the night, only occasionally resting. Of course, eventually, even she succumbed to sleep as she rested, and she never noticed the two other genin walk up, placing a blanket over her and laying down, making their own beds nearby.

"Well, it looks like your test may have actually done something," Iruka said to Kakashi, shaking his head in disbelief. He'd thought he'd never heard of a more ridiculous test before, once he was given the details. Kakashi chuckled lightly.

"Oh no, 'my' test didn't do anything."

"Huh? Then why do they seem to be acting more like a team than anyone could have guessed back in the academy? My Naruto-chan was never a team player back then, and neither were these two from what Iruka-kun told me." Kakashi smiled.

"The test only reminded them about teamwork; their caring for each other came on their own. This test didn't have the same affect on my team."

"Wait…on _your_ team? Your sensei did this test?" Kakashi nodded.

"Yes; it's been used on four generations of shinobi now. It started with Hokage-sama, who used it for the sannin. Lord Jiraiya used it, then, for Minato-sensei, who used it for me and my team." Iruka's jaw dropped, but Anko's hand twitched as she thought about grabbing her kunai. No one had ever told her (not that many people knew), but she had figured it out on her own years ago, after spending so much time with Naruto, who the girl's father was.

"So…don't you think you should have-" despite the venomous tone in her voice, Kakashi talked over her, sensing what she was about to reveal and deciding that, even though Iruka would not be one to talk, it was still better that as few people as possible knew.

"Of course, after the kyuubi attacked, I wasn't right in my head, after loosing my sensei…and some other people who were…very precious too me." He sighed. "I failed in many duties after that, and I shamed my sensei's name, but I intend to do better now, looking after his legacy as best as I can." Anko relaxed, putting a hand on the confused Iruka's shoulder, who had most certainly _not_ missed the tension in the air.

"Don't worry about it; let's just all head to bed. The kids can take care of themselves." Iruka sighed.

"Fine, let's do that…" but one of these days you're going to tell me what just happened…

.

.

.

The next morning a beautiful girl in a pink kimono was walking through the same woods as the sleeping genin. The kimono she was wearing had a black border and small black swirls here and there. It was tied closed with a cotton candy blue sash. Her hair, reaching down to just below her shoulder blades, was a very deep brown, like the bark of a tree. She had a slim neck, around which she was wearing a plain black chocker, and her eyes were filled with contentment as she walked. She stopped here and there to gather flowers and herbs, even putting one of the yellow flowers into her hair, humming softly. As she leaned over to pick other herb, a bird flew in front of her face, causing her to look over, noticing the sleeping genin.

"What are you…"

"Oh, I was training," a voice said from behind her, very tired like, as if she was yawning. Sure enough, as Haku spun around, she saw the blond girl, Naruto, stretching out and covering her mouth as she yawned. "I was kinda surprised, though, that Sasuke and Sakura came out here. I was going to wait until they woke up to ask them if they decided to train, too." Haku relaxed and smiled; she hadn't been discovered.

"Well, based on all that, on the headband you have, you must be a ninja." Naruto grinned.

"Ah, so you noticed! Yeah, I'm a ninja, and one day, I'm gonna be hokage! That's the strongest shinobi in the whole village! And also, I need to prove something to somebody!" Haku looked at her in surprise, remembering her apparent lack of skill, but then she remembered that it was _this_ girls plan that freed their sensei. Maybe she _could_ do it…if she had the right motivation. Did she?

"Are you doing these things for yourself, or for someone else?" Naruto looked at her in confusion.

"Huh?" What do you mean?" Haku smiled softly.

"Do you, have someone who is precious to you?" They both sat in silence for a moment as Naruto thought of those that were precious to her. She immediately thought of jii-san, Konohamaru, Iruka sensei and Anko-chan, then also of Sakura and Sasuke. She blushed slightly, Haku beginning to speak again just then.

"When a person has something that is precious to them that they protect, _that_ is when they can _truly_ become strong." Naruto smiled as she remembered the story of Kaiza. _If something is precious to you, protect it with both arms!_ She nodded.

"Yeah, I understand that pretty good," she said. "Oh, hey! You're out really early, so it whatever you're doing must be important to you! Do you need help?" Haku looked at the other girl in surprise, then smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I'm gathering healing herbs, and I would love the company, if wouldn't mind helping me look." For the next half hour or so the two girls chatted as they looked for the rest of the herbs Haku needed, enjoying each other's company.

"Is this it," Naruto asked, holding up one last plant.

"Yes, that's all I need. Thank-you." She took the plant and stood up. "This is good-bye for now, then. It would be nice to meet again sometime."

"Yeah, definitely!" Naruto sat as she watched her new friend walk away. Just before she disappeared into the trees, she turned and said one last thing.

"You _will_ become strong, I think. I believe in you." Then she turned, leaving Naruto to her thoughts.

A few moments later Naruto was back in the clearing that she had left Sasuke and Sakura in. Sasuke had already woken up and started a fire, and Sakura was just beginning to stir. _Do you, have someone who is precious to you?_ The blond girl smiled. Yeah, she had precious people, and she would do all it took to keep them, and to protect them.

"Hey dobe, you gonna sleep outside every night? You'll get a cold if you keep doing that…."

"TEME!"

Needless to say, Sakura wasn't asleep for much longer.

.

.

Training continued to go on. Sakura, of course, had already proven that she was quite adept at Chakra control, but Kakashi kept her at the exercise anyways, to build up her stamina. If Anko and Iruka weren't there, he would have had to keep her at the bridge on guard duty while he watched over Naruto and Sasuke since the most important thing was that everyone gain mastery over their control. But fate smiled on team 7, and they were each able to progress in their own ways as Iruka and Anko took turns guarding Tazuna. Of course, Anko missed it when Naruto played a prank on Kakashi and Sakura.

The two of them had come out to the training area, Sakura having left back to the house to get breakfast for her and her teammates. They got back and didn't see the other two until Naruto threw down a kunai. Looking up they saw her laying belly down on a rather high branch. She got up to greet the two, acting like she slipped and fell over…just to latch onto the bottom of the branch with her chakra. Kakashi sighed in exasperation. _Maybe I'm getting too old for this…_

"Naruto you baka! You scared me to death!" Of course, Naruto promptly unstuck, having lost concentration in her glee at tricking her teammate and sensei. The result was Sasuke quickly moving, bouncing from tree truck to tree trunk and catching Naruto in his arms before coming to rest on a slightly lower branch in the next tree.

"Dobe," he said, though there was no venom in his voice. Naruto blushed. She had instinctively put her arms around his neck, putting them into an intimate position. _Kiss him, _one part of her yelled. _He's strong and cute, just do it! **He's Sakura's!** **I promised her I wasn't going after him!** That was then, this is now! **No!**__ Yes! **No!**__ Yes!_

_Hnnn…she actually is kinda cute…and her lips _are_ pretty soft…_

"Sasuke, you're so cool, saving Naruto-chan like that!" _How dare you get into Sasuke-kun's arms like that!_ Naruto immediately jumped out of Sasuke's arms…almost falling over again, but Sasuke grabbed her arm, giving her a chance to catch her balance before she yelled at him, saying she didn't need any help, then jumping off to start training again.

_Hmm…they're growing quite well, but I wonder if this is going to create some tension later?_

.

.

.

Later that day Kakashi ditched the crutch he'd been using and begun working out on his own to test his recovery. He was doing finger pushups in the den, close to two hundred, with Tazuna sitting on his back to help him train. After a while, Tazuna spoke up asking the shinobi a question.

"Why are you still here when I lied to you about this mission?"

"Hmm… Well, would you say that you consider yourself a friend to Naruto?" The old man looked at him in surprise.

"What? I, I supposed…even though I did lie to the girl…" Kakashi continued to work out for a moment before speaking again.

"To abandon one's friends makes one worse than trash, and trash are those who abandon a mission. So, regardless of my own feelings towards you, this _was_ our mission, to protect you, but I would be doing a disservice to Naruto, too, because she considers _you_ a friend, and I've done enough to her in her life already."

"What? But she doesn't ever act like you-"

"That's because she never knew me until I was made her sensei, but she _should_ have…because I knew her parents _very_ well, and I should have been there for her every year and every day of her life. However, the girl I loved died the same night as Naruto's parents, and I acted like scum, succumbing to the emotions of despair and loss for years when I should have let their examples of life drive me to live a life that would make them proud.

"I did her wrong in that respect. She's hated so much in the village that I should have been there to be a friend, one more of many that she deserves and needs so much…"

"You're right; you _are_ scum," a female voice said. Tazuna looked up to see the scary woman seething in anger as she reclined in the doorway, arms crossed. Her deadly gaze was on Kakashi. "Maybe _you_ have time to wallow in self pity, but I've spent the last twelve years trying to make things easier on my little sister, and all this time, you just…grah!" Kakashi didn't look up, continuing his push-ups. "What? You don't even have anything to say to that?"

"I already said it; you heard it all, right from start. Did you think I was trying to be secretive?" Anko gaped for a moment, clenching her fists.

"So, what do you expect me to do about this then, huh? You finally told someone that you knew Naruto's parents, and you expect _them_ to clean up your mess, is that it?" Kakashi chuckled darkly.

"No, not really. I _will_ tell Naruto one day, but I don't know when she'll be ready. I just thought you'd like to know that someone knows…even better than Hokage sama, really." She looked at him in confusion.

"Huh? Parents are parents; Hokage-sama knows, yeah, but how could you know even better than him?" Kakashi wanted to kill himself right then and there. That was _stupid_. Self pity really does make one stupid. Lie, lie, lie; what's a good lie?

"Well, I can't tell you who her parents are, but even though Hokage-sama _knew_ them, I dare say I was even closer to them than he was." Anko eyed him, but accepted it. _That was close,_ he thought.

"Alright, whatever; but remember this," she said as she stood and started walking out the door. "Naruto will always be more ready than you think." _Hmmm, perhaps, but how many people are there that have _three_ parents? Even I can't wrap my head around it sometimes, and I saw Karura-san use the jutsu that made it possible. Still, maybe I should tell her some of the truth soon…_

.

.

.

Later that night Naruto and Sasuke were sitting atop their respective trees, kunai plunged into the thickest available spot in the trunks. They had worked all day and had made it to the top. They were quite proud of themselves and smiling (Naruto a lot more broadly than Sasuke, of course).

"So, should we call it a night," Sasuke said, calling over to Naruto's tree.

"Heheheh; yeah, let's go home!"

A while later the two of them walked in along with Sakura, Naruto leaning into Sasuke who was supporting her, holding her arm that was wrapped around his shoulder while Sakura also supported Naruto some.

"Oh, you guys are finally back! Why are you both so dirty?" Naruto grinned at the old bridge builder.

"Heheh…both of us…"

"Made it to the top," Sasuke said, finishing the exhausted Naruto's sentence for her. She couldn't bring herself to glare at him, instead just grinning at him and Sakura.

"Yeah, she wore herself out doing it, though. After all, nobodies as great as Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, matter-of-factly. Again, all Naruto did was grin.

"Alright," Kakashi said, feeling pride that his three genin, less than a month into their shinobi carreers, had already mastered the tree climbing jutsu. "Alright, team 7, tomorrow, you all will participate in protecting Tazuna-san as he completes the bridge!" All three wore excited looks, though Sasuke's might have been closer to anticipation, and yelled out, "OK!" The old man laughed good naturedly.

"Hahahah, yeah, I'm also pretty worn out from _my_ work today. On the bright side, the bridge _is_ almost done."

"Father, Naruto-chan, don't overdo it," Tsunami said. Kakashi winced, thinking about the many times that Rin had said the same words to Obito and him, but he hid it as his students slumped down into their places to eat he dinner Tsunami had prepared, focusing instead on his pride in them. Conversation began to pick up, and Anko was teasing Naruto about over working, ruffling the hair on the top of her head some.

Of course, the happy atmosphere was not to hold for long. Inari had been looking across the table at the biggest spaz of a shinobi, the loud mouthed Naruto, and the words she kept saying. She would be strongest? She'd be a hero? She was going to save them? He was reminded of her father, tears starting to fall down his face, then he slammed down his hands on the table, yelling.

"Why do you guys try so hard? No matter how hard you train you'll still never be a match for Gato's men! It doesn't matter how _great_ your claims are or how hard you work; when facing the stronger people, the weak will only end up getting killed!" Most everyone stared at the child in surprise, though Iruka looked at him in pity, and Anko in anger. If Naruto hadn't spoken first, she would have punched the kid in the head.

"Whatever brat; I'm not like you." Saying this, Naruto laid her head in arms on the table looking away from the little boy. This only caused the small boy to yell and cry in even greater earnest, venting his frustrations and disbelief, and his despair at the loss of Kaiza.

"Well, I'd hate to be _you!_ You don't know a _thing_ about us, yet you're always acting so bossy! **What do you know about me anyways, huh! I'M different from you! **You, you're always clowning around and acting so darn cheerful; you don't even _know_ how hard life can be!" The tension in the room increased dramatically as everyone waited for Naruto's reaction. _Oh boy, this kids gonna get it now,_ thought Anko, well aware of Naruto's sufferings as a child.

"So, it's okay for _you_ to pose as the star of some old tragedy and cry all day, is it? Well, then just go ahead," she said, lifting up her face from where she had laid it in her arms. It was the scariest glare most of the people in that room had ever seen. "Go ahead and cry all day, for all I care…you little sissy!" Sakura yelled at Naruto as the blond stood up shakily and left the room.

"Naruto! You over did it! Apologize!" Naruto ignored her, continuing to walk out of the room, likely going to bed. However, the mood of the dinner had been spoiled an no one else said a word. Later Kakashi followed Inari outside on the peer porch to their home.

"May I join you," he asked. Inari shrugged so after a minute Kakashi sat down, dangling his legs over the edge above the water. They say in silence for several minutes before Kakashi spoke.

"You know, Naruto didn't mean any harm by what she said. She just doesn't always use her head." Inari just looked down, clutching his knees tighter as the only sign that he'd heard the man. Kakashi continued. "You know, your grandfather told us about your dad, Kaiza. Like you, Naruto also grew up without a father." Here, Inari noticeably stiffened in surprise.

"Actually, she'd never know either of her parents; all she's had is an adopted grandfather and Anko in there. She was adopted when she was young, hence the grandfather, but even they dies before she could remember them, and when her little brother asks about them, she goes into a depression for a few days. She's never actually even had a friend before because most of the people in our village back home shun her.

"The truth is, she'd had an even rougher past than you."

"Huh?" Now Inari looked up in wonder. Someone with an even hard life? Was that possible?

"Yeah, but I've never actually seen her cry about it. She may act like a goof ball, but she's really just trying to get people to acknowledge her, and for that dream, she'd risk her life any time. My guess is, she just got sick and tired of crying. She _knows_ what it means to be strong, just like your dad did. Really, she may understand your feelings better than anyone else around here."

"What? Then why-"

"Actually, she doesn't seem to be able to _not_ be concerned about you, you see. Most of what she'd doing right now, is for you…" Inari continued to look at the man inn surprise, trying to take everything in, but before he could say anything else, Kakashi got up.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that, but I'd better get off to bed and get some sleep. Good-night, Inari." It was much later when Tsunami found Inari still out on the peer, thinking on the things that Kakashi had said, before the young boy went to bed.

The next day Naruto didn't wake up with everyone else and, despite Anko's desire to wake the girl up on her own _special_ fashion, Kakashi insisted that they let the worn out girl sleep.

"Tsunami, take care of my Naruto-chan, okay?"

"Of course, Anko, it will be my please."

"Alright! Of to the bridge," Tazuna said, pointing the way, big smile on his face. _Any day now_, he thought,_ any day now, the bridge will be complete, and we'll be rid of Gato!_

Said man was, at that very moment, planning the ambush of the shinobi guarding the bridge builder that was causing him so much trouble. Zabuza had finished healing just yesterday, and they had planned to finish the job today. He growled in frustration as he failed to get a hold of the demon of the mist, however. The man had probably taken off his head set, he was so obtuse. He turned to his nearest aid.

"Well, we can probably be assured that that idiot is doing what I'm paying him for, so, how is our…_backup_ looking?" The aide flipped through some papers on their clip board, reviewing the notes there before replying.

"Everything is in order. They should be here on time."

"Very good," Gato said, grinning evilly. "Very good…"

.

.

.

"AAAAHHHH!" A scream rent the air, causing the two remaining member of the household to jump in shock as Naruto came running down the stairs in her pajamas. Her night cap was like a walrus, and was a birthday gift from Hinata some years back. Her top was a plain orange tee while she wore loose blue shorts on her lower half.

"Where is everyone? Did they leave without me because I overslept or something?"

"Oh, Naruto! Your sensei said that we should all let you sleep; given that Anko wanted to wake you up by-"

"ARG! I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! THEY LEFT ME BEHIND!" She raced back upstairs, quickly throwing her clothes back on so that she could join her team. _Dog gone short! If it weren't for the need of decency while being a shinobi, I'd just wear the skirt! It's less trouble! Where's my holster? Did Sakura take it? What about my special kunai? That Sasuke teme didn't take it, did he? Oh…there they are,_ she thought, lifting up her pillow to find her tools. Deciding to put it on as she went, she ran back downstairs and out the door.

"I'm off! Later Tsunami-san, Inari-san!"

"Hmmm…she's really fast, isn't she?"

"Hmmm…"

As the two family members stared off after the disappearing girl, Naruto made her way from tree to tree, using the tree climbing exercise to help boost her mobility. It was easier to travel this way when you could get a solid grip on the branch for pushing off. She'd only been going for a few moments, however, before she paused, seeing a dead boar with many slashes in it; she jumped down and looked around the small clearing.

_Those strange slashes are everywhere, even on the trees? What happened?_ She turned to look over her shoulder, back the way she came…

.

.

.

At the bridge, the rest of the shinobi, along with Tazuna, were on their guard the moment they arrived. The unconscious bodies of Tazuna's remaining workers were strewn across the bridge. One man, clinging to consciousness, whispered, "Monster…" Just then, a mist started to rise over the bridge.

"Here they come!" The five shinobi surrounded Tazuna, each looking for and trying to sense the enemy. Anko was licking her lips in anticipation while Iruka simply had a serious and concentrated look on his face. Sakura was looking around wild eyed as Sasuke seemed to shake.

"Sensei, this is Zabuza's hidden mist jutsu again, isn't it!" Just then, a low laugh echoed across the bridge.

"Hahahah; long time no see, eh Kakashi? I see you're still with those brats; you even managed to pick up a couple of new friends I see! Too bad that one kid is shaking again…" At this Sasuke grinned, even as a dozen water clones of Zabuza suddenly appeared, surrounding them.

"Heh; I'm shaking from excitement!" Kakashi smiled.

"Alright Sasuke, show him how you've grown." Sasuke nodded, and even as the clones moved in, Sasuke moved in a blur, striking each clone, collapsing it back into water. _Well, maybe this guy can give Naruto-chan a run for her money after all! But I still think she can whoop his arse!_

"Hmm, looks like the brat saw through the water clones with time; even beat them. He _has_ grown, Kakashi. Looks like you may have a rival, eh Haku?"

"Yes it does, Zabuza sama." Looking across the bridge, the leaf shinobi finally saw the two missing nin. The short one, the 'hunter' nin, was wearing the same jacket, loose pants, and turtle neck as before, but Zabuza was sporting a sleeveless back shirt and matching pants, though he still had the bottoms of his pants tucked into the same leg warms a little below the knee.

"Well well, looks like I was right after all," Kakashi said. "The masked one _is_ working for you."

"He should stop hiding behind that mask and face us in the open," Sakura declared.

"I'll fight him," Sasuke said, lowering his stance slightly, giving himself more power for defense in case of a surprise attack, or if he got the chance to attack first, more pushing power for his offense. "Tricking us with that little act? I hate morons like _that_ the most."

"You're so cool Sasuke-kun!" _She is _way_ too hung up on him_, both Anko and Kakashi thought.

"He _is_ impressive," Haku said. "Even though the water clones only had one tenth of your own strength, he took them out easily. Very impressive."

"Yes, but we _still_ have the first advantage. Go!"

"Yes…" With that command the young shinobi became a small whirlwind. Sasuke could barely keep up with Haku's speed for a moment, but then his training over the last week began to kick in, and following the other shinobi's movements began to flow to him like second nature. Learning to control the chakra while in battle was giving him the ability to read the movements of a fast opponents, just like bending chakra during combat. His attention was divided, but equal in all regardless, none lacking. Zabuza stared at him, analyzing his skill level against Haku's. Meanwhile, Kakashi was eyeing him.

"Sakura," he said, "take the frontal position of the formation and don't leave my side incase Zabuza has more shinobi to sneak up behind us!"

Meanwhile, the fight between Sasuke and Haku only sped up. Attack after attack was thrown…and blocked, on both side. The two of them traded words for a moment as they locked kunai again.

"I don't really want to kill you," Haku said, "but I live to serve my master, and it looks like you aren't going to back down and stop being in his way." Sasuke almost sneered.

"Hah, don't be silly. Of course I'm not going to back down."

"I thought so…but you won't be able to continue keeping up with me next time. Plus, I've already gained two advantages." Sasuke quirked an eyebrow as Haku explained.

"The first is the water all around us on the ground, and the second…the second is that I have occupied one of your arms; now, you will only be able to run from my attacks," Haku said, raising a hand and beginning to form hand signs with it. Every shinobi on the bridge stared in amazement at this feat. Not even Kakashi had seen anything like that before. As Haku used a jutsu that turned the water into a thousand needles, Sasuke once again used the training to focus chakra in his legs to increase his speed, and suddenly it was Haku who was having trouble keeping up, and Sasuke repeated the same words his opponent just said.

"You're slow," he said first. "Now, _you_ will only be able to run from _my_ attacks!" Sasuke rapidly threw several shuriken at his opponent, then up close, when Haku went to block a backwards taijutsu stab, he quickly reversed to throwing the kunai at Hauk's face, forcing them to jump back once again. However, this failed to stop Sasuke as he swiveled into a low kick, connecting with Haku's torso, sending them flying.

"Haku lost…in speed?" The surprise was evident in Zabuza's voice, who had been watching calmly, even now, as his 'partner' fought the leaf genin.

"I can't have you underestimating my team," Kakashi said, seeming almost as uninterested as Zabuza. "They aren't the brat's you imagine. As their academy teacher, Iruka here can vouch for what I'm about to say concerning them.

"Sasuke is the leaf's number one rookie, Sakura here is the brightest shinobi of their year, and Naruto?" He grinned underneath his mask. "Naruto is the number one most hyper-active ninja." The adults froze as Kakashi's words seemed to have no effect but to make the large missing nin, Zabuza, the demon of the mist, laugh.

"Heeheehee, Haku, do you realize that if this keeps up, we'll be beaten off?" The masked shinobi slowly stood. The air chilled quickly as they did so.

"Yes, but we can't have that…" Sasuke, feeling the temperature change, braced himself for another attack, ready to dodge another barrage of water missiles, but Haku used a different hand sign this time, and the water around him moved suddenly. He was ready to run, but instead of the senbon he was expecting, the water turned into ice, and then mirrors, arranging themselves in a dome all around him. _What kind of jutsu is this? Are the mirrors supposed to confuse me?_

"Special Jutsu: Demonic Ice Mirrors!" _Demonic? Okay, this _has_ to be a scare tactic_ was what Sasuke was thinking…until his opponent stepped into one of the mirrors, their image transferring to all of them. _What? He's actually_ in_ the mirrors? But there can only be one of him still, right? That means I just have to flush him out…_

On the outside, Kakashi was moving to help him, realizing that this strange jutsu might very well be above Sasuke's skill to handle. _He_ had underestimated Zabuza's partner. It would be his fault if Sasuek died now. However, before he could reach them, Zabuza finally moved, placing himself between them.

"Your opponent, is _me,"_ he said. "You want to help your student, who will surely die in there, then you have to make it through me first.

"Grrr…" Inside the dome, Haku spoke.

"Shall we begin, then? Now I'll show you my _real_ speed…" Sasuke thought he knew where the attack was coming from, having been careful to watch the movements of the images, remembering which one Haku started in. However, his first cut came from behind, and then needles flew all around him.

"AAAHHH!" _They're, they're everywhere! How is he doing it?_

"Sasuke!"

"Nu uh uh! If you get by me, I'll just take out those ones there, leaving you with even more dead comrades on you conscious." Kakashi looked back. He wasn't really sure how powerful Anko and Iruka could be, next to Zabuza. He'd been training them assuming that they'd fight Zabuza together, but how could they save Sasuke and a defeat Zabuza at the same time? He saw Sakura move, jumping and throwing a kunai in to help Sasuke, hoping to strike the mirrors and break them. However, Haku's image simply jumped out of a mirror and grabbed the kunai.

_He blocked it? How did he do that?_ Then, quite suddenly, a shuriken appeared out of no where. This time Haku didn't have enough time to dodge or catch it once she realized that it was there, and it hit her full in the face, knocking her out of the mirror dome. Sasuke looked up, smiling slightly through his pain. _What a show off…_

_What was…_

"Well the hero usually appears at the last minute," a voice rang out, and Naruto appeared, standing near the edge of the bridge, arms folded across her chest and a triumphant look on her face. "Yeah, Naruto Uzumaki has arrived! It's time to kick some butt!"

"Naruto! You idiot! Where have you been anyways?" Naruto winced as her sister yelled at her, but even _she_ knew that now wasn't the time too recount what she'd been up do. Sasuke was in trouble, and now, it was _her_ turn to shine…

.

.

.

"Inari come help me with the dishes," Tsunami yelled out from the kitchen.

"Okay, I'll be right there," the boy called out. He had been doing a lot of thinking on what Naruto and Kakashi had said, and he was still trying to make a decision. He was just putting down the picture of his father, thinking on his example, when he heard the door break and his mother scream.

Running down the stairs, the sight he came across was terrifying. Two men, one with what seemed like a million scars all over his body and an eye patch, were holding their swords out and threatening his mom. The scared one turned to look at him. Inari didn't need to know too much about crazy people to tell that this one was insane.

"Oh look! A little boy; heheh, maybe I can cut someone after all." The other man, wearing a heavy coat, rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on, you've already cut stuff today." The man licked his lips as he took a step towards Inari, who was frozen to the spot.

"Yeah, but nothing screams like a person!"

"Wait!" both men turned to look at Tsunami.

"You need a prisoner; if you leave my boy alone, I'll come with you willingly. If not, I'll kill myself!" The crazy man laughed.

"Wow, you'd better thank you mom, kid she just saved your life. And here I'd been so looking forward to cutting someone…" The both ignored the small boy as he slumped to the ground, clutched his knees and began to cry.

"I'm sorry, mother," he said, "I'm just so scared!" He kept crying as his mother was taken out, not even saying a word. She was going willingly, just like she said. But then, Inari froze as Naruto's word came to his mind. _You little sissy!-I think she just got tired of crying…_ Inari stood up and ran to the door.

"Stop it," he yelled out. "Leave my mother alone!"

"No, Inari! Run away!"

"What a dumb kid; even after everything his mother did…and look, now he's charging!" The two men readied themselves, ready to slice the yelling young boy in boy. Of course, it was quite the shock when they _did_ cut him, only to find a sliced log in his place.

"What the-"

"heh, idiots," a young girls voice said. They whirled around to see Naruto crouching there, laying down Tsunami's unconcous body, and holding Inari in her other arm. The boy cried.

"Naruto, I'm sorry, but I wasn't strong enough!"

"What are you talking about? You were really brave back there, and you distracted them long enough for me to grab your mom, so it's all alright!" Inari grabbed her in a hug.

"Thank-you Naruto!" She smiled.

"Hey, no problem, and I'm sorry for calling you a sissy!"

"Hey, don't just ignore us!"

"Yeah! After all, you're just a kid!" Naruto smiled like she was talking to a little kid, and almost lazily threw two shuriken at the men.

"That ain't gonna be near enough," the coat wearing man yelled out, moving to deflect the thrown weapon. However, it turned out to be quite sufficient as the two shuriken turned out to be clones, reverting to their usual appearance and grabbing the two men by their heads, knocking them together then kicking them as hard as they could. The self styled kidnappers were out cold, and the clones bound them up.

"Alright, time for me to get going."

"But Naruto, what do I do now? I mean, I wasn't strong enough to protect mom before, but-"

"AH, don't worry about it. You guys are safe now. After all, the hero usually shows up at the last second to save the day; the rest of the fight will be at the bridge. You just make sure that these guys stay tied up and listen to your heart. You'll know what to do!" Inari saluted.

"Yes mame! Go get em!"

"Yeah, I will, believe it!" As Naruto ran off and Inari helped his mom up, he thought _the fight will be at the bridge huh?_ He looked across the town. _If something precious to you, protect it with both arms!_ I will dad, I will!

.

.

.

Just as Anko finished yelling, Zabuza took his opportunity and threw several shuriken, catching everyone off guard with his attack. It would have hit solidly, even with Naruto preparing to deflect them, but Haku moved, deflecting them all._ One day, I'm gonna become hokage!_

"Haku! What are you doing exactly?" Haku bowed in submission.

"Please, Zabuza sama, let me fight these ones my own way…"

"Heh; you're soft as always Haku, but fine, have it your way."

_Soft? Hmm, maybe. After all, we've seen how skilled this guy is with Needles,_ Sasuke thought, pulling some of them out of his body right then, trying to clean his wounds and get used to the pain. _He's not aiming to hit me in high damage areas, though. But I still need to figure out these mirrors. He's moving too fast, I can't see what his attacks are coming from. Are those images clones, simple reflections, or maybe solid, like kage bushin? Whatever it is, these mirrors _have _to be important._ He looked around himself, continuing to analyze the mirrors. _Naruto may be a dobe, but with her attacking form the outside, and me from the inside…_ He froze as Naruto's face appeared in from of him.

"Hey Sasuke, I came in here to save you," she said excitedly, thinking about how now he was going to have to thank her for her help, but instead he exploded.

"YOU IDIOT! Why don't you use your head, like a real shinobi! Why did you come inside here! I just-grah- ARRGH! You're such an idiot!"

"What? Hey, I come in here to save you and this is what I get?"

"Naruto! All those pranks and you still didn't realize that separation is key to something like this?" Naruto actually flinched.

"Yeah, well, in pranks no one's life is in danger!" That was when Sasuke grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Yeah, but instead of just me, now _your_ life is in danger, too!" They both froze, their faces inches apart before Sasuke pushed her away. "Fine, whatever, see if I care!" _Oh brother_, Kakashi thought._ She just made things worse in this case. Still, with this going on…_ he put his thoughts on hold however, as a blur rushed past him.

"On no, I don't _think_ so!" Zabuza grabbed his blade by the handle swinging it around. However, he didn't try to cut, in this case; it would have taken too much time, and he realized that the woman was probably ready to block the blade. Instead, he calculated where her head would be, and rammed as hard as he could with the hilt of his blade. Sure enough, there was a solid 'crack' as metal connected with skull, and the kunoichi's body went flying for a few more feet before stopping.

"ANKO!"

"SIS!" Iruka and Naruto were both looking horror at the girl's body. Both knew why she'd done it. Naruto _had_ messed up, and she'd been protecting her her whole life. When she realized how bad a shape Naruto would be in, she ran to help, but underestimated the swordsman, having been too focused, and now she was down for the count…though not dead, both thanked Kami for. Meanwhile, Kakashi turned towards Iruka.

"Iruka! From now on we _have_ to act as a team, understand? No dashing off like Anko did! We'll get her taken care of later!" Iruka nodded, shaking as he tried to control himself, anger at the swordsman mounting inside, clouding his vision.

Back at the dome, Haku stepped in, just seconds before Naruto tried to escape it to reach her sister. A small barrage of senbon stopped her progress. Sasuke, of course, was focused on his opponent. _There's the real one!_ He built up his chakra, flying through the hand signs, only to be surprised and turning around as fast as he could.

"Over here…" came Haku's voice.

"Fire style: Fire ball jutsu!" The flames erupted, the heat searing on his skin. _If these mirrors are made of ice, then my fire should melt them…_ Both leaf genin looked on in dismay as the flames cleared, showing not so much as a sliver of melted ice. It had done nothing.

"You can't melt my ice," Haku said, and the beatings began again. Time after time, the needles were thrown, lacerating the two genin's skins. Naruto tried using shadow clones to escape several times, refusing to give in, no matter how quickly Haku dispatched them. Sasuke kept trying to follow their opponent's movements, taking in the relief from the needles that the massive number of Naruto's clones brought. Naruto tried to destroy the mirrors, but again every clone was destroyed before it could connect.

"So that's it," Kakashi whispered.

"What is it," Sakura asked, but it was Iruka that answered.

"What that Haku kid is using, it's a blood line trait, like Kakashi's sharingan is; a gene that allows someone to use jutsu or other abilities that no one else can." Kakashi nodded.

"Exactly. Even my sharingan cannot copy abilities like this one. It's impossible to defeat." Sakura looked over at the dome. _Sasuke…Naruto…_ The two genin were breathing heavily, especially Naruto, but she stood up once again, tearing off her skirt so that it only went down to her knees all around now.

"I can't die here," she said, determination showing through the pain on her face. "I have a dream, and I have to live to achieve it!" Haku paused, remembering a time, long ago, when she first met Zabuza. _A brat like you isn't wanted by anyone, _he'd said, crouching down to star at her from where she was on the ground. _You'll die without freedom or dreams._ It was funny, but even then, she'd never been scared of him. She'd just looked right back at him, then smiled when she realized something.

"You have, the same eyes as me…"

"becoming a shinobi is difficult for me," she said. "I don't like having to kill people. I'd rather you all just back off and let Zabuza sama kill the bridge builder like he was hired to do, then we all just drift away…however, if you continue to fight, I will bury the kindness in my heard, and become the blade to accomplish Zabuza-sama's wishes. I will become a _true_ shinobi, and at this place, on this very bridge, we will fight for our dreams, and see who stands at the end of the day, still alive to accomplish them.

"Don't hate me for this," Haku said, voice soft and genuine regret evident. "I fight to protect someone precious to me, to work and fight for that person, to make his dreams come true. _That_ is _my_ dream, and to fulfill my precious persons dreams, I can, and _will_ become a shinobi, and kill you!" Even as Sakura screamed her support, the more experienced shinobi knew the truth. Fight as hard as they could, even beat that strange technique, they could not truly defeat that kid, because they did not yet have the power to bury their hearts, and kill! Iruka explained it to Sakura, who was adamant that they had to do something.

"Yes, we do. So, sorry, but I'm going to end this _now_ Zabuza," he said, and he moved to lift his headband.

"Sharingan again, eh? Is that the only thing you can do? Hahah…" He moved quickly, lifting a kunai to stab the leaf Jounin's eye. Kakashi blocked it easily with his hand.

"You ask if all I can do is the sharingan, and yet you're afraid it Zabuza. Why is that," he said, speaking as if in a pleasant conversation.

"Heh, a shinobi's best technique shouldn't be something shown so easily over and over again to an opponent."

"Well then, you should feel honored. You'll be the only person to ever see it twice! However," he said, his voice becoming lower, his seriousness coming to bear, "there _won't_ be a third time!"

"Ahaha; even if you _do_ beat me, you'll never beat Haku," Zabuza said, confident in the child's abilities. I've been teaching him since he was _very_ little. He's learned all sorts of fighting skills, and he's been every adversary I've ever pitted him again. He has no fear of death, and his jutsu is above even mine, with his bloodline. He is my tool and a fighting machine known as Shinobi! Not like that _junk_ you follow you around!"

"There's nothing as boring as a man's bragging," Kakashi, finally lifting his headband. "Now, let's get started! Now Iruka!" The teacher jumped, throwing a barrage of kunai and shuriken at the missing nin, but Zabuza jumped back, making a hand sign.

"Hidden mist jutsu!" The mist rose quickly and, try as they might, the two men lost track of Zabuza almost immediately.

"I've been waiting to say this back, but as you said in our last fight, the same jutsu won't work on me twice…and that includes your sharingan!"

.

.

.

Back with Naruto and Sasuke, the boy was trying to conserve energy, even as Naruto was wasting it.

"Stop it," he said. "He's got to have a limit; he's already slowing…there!" This time he was able to prepare, and even managed to block some of the needles that came raining down on them. They hadn't noticed the mist rising on the outside. They were all totally clueless until they heard Sakura's scream.

"What's going on out there? Why can't we see anything?"

"He must have used that hidden mist jutsu again," Sasuke said, "only this time the mist is thicker. Sakura's okay, though," he said. Naruto looked at him confused.

"What? But that was a horrible scream! How do you know she's not dead!" Sasuke smirked.

"You aren't used to Sakura's screams yet? That was a scared scream, like back during the test when sensei used a genjutsu on her. When she's in pain, it's totally different and doesn't last as long." Naruto thought back.

"Huh, I guess you're right. But that just means we need to get out of here even faster!"

"You move well, but this time I'll stop you, so you should quit worrying about your teammates." _Focus, concentrate…yes!_ Haku descended again, but her attack completely missed. She was in complete confusion…until Sasuke looked up, gently placing Naruto's worn out body on the ground, having grabbed her as well.

"I see…you also possess a blood line. You must be…an Uchiha, the clan of the sharingan. Well, I can't keep this up for too much longer. As you have probably guessed, this jutsu uses up a lot of chakra, so there's a limit to how long I can keep up this speed. With those eyes on me know, I've got to finish this quickly, before you eye's catch up to me." She looked across the dome. Sasuke was standing on his own in the middle of it, waiting for her attack. _How best to do this…_ Her eyes came across the exhausted kunoichi's body. _I, I hate to do this, Naruto, but this must end!_ Her arm moved, and Sasuke realized who she was aiming at.

_NO! Not at Naruto!_ He focused his chakra, pushing his body as hard as he could. _Darn it! Please, please make it in time!_

There was a cough, and the tired Naruto opened her eyes. She'd collapsed from using the kage bushin over and over, and she'd felt Sasuke carry her out of harm's way. Why was he coughing now? And what was with that blood?

"Dobe," Sasuke said quietly. Naruto stared up at her teammate, impaled by the senbon needles meant for her, though he had somehow managed to also hit Haku as she leapt from mirror to mirror. The enemy stood slowly watching them in their last moments together.

"S, Sasuke, why?" His face remained facing down, not meeting her inquiring and tear filled eyes. He chuckled.

"I could say I don't know, that my body moved on its own…but that would be a lie, and what is a lie worth, to a dead man?"

"No, no," Naruto whispered, not wanting to believe it. Sasuke fell to his knees, clutching his side, and his eye's finally rose to meet hers.

"You're so beautiful," he said. Naruto gasped, clutching her chest even as she moved with her other arm to support his body, and keep him from falling further. "Don't, don't give up on your dream," he whispered, his breath warm in her ear. "I can't fulfill mine now, but you can yours; don't let anyone stop you…"

"Sasuke…kun, please, no, please don't die." Naruto clutched him tightly to her. "Please I, I _like_ you. There, I said it, so you can't die now, not when I finally told you…" Sasuke managed to push himself back from her a little, a sad smile on his face as he looked at Naruto's bright blue eyes that were filling with tears. He reached up and held her chin.

"Would that I could; I'm sorry, but I want…I want one, one kiss, a real one, please, before I go…" Naruto braced herself, nodding, and they both leaned forward. It was the saddest kiss either of them would ever have, full already of the sorrow for the chance they would never have, and a silent promise that Naruto would keep on living her life and fulfill her dream.

"Thank-you," Sasuke whispered, "and good-bye…Naruto-chan." He fell over and Naruto screamed out in agony. He was the first person in years to respect her outside those she considered family, and she'd _liked _him; she really _liked_ him! Her first crush, and now he was gone. They'd never even had a chance. She screamed again, and felt the power welling within her, the anger. It was all consuming.

"He landed a blow on me easily, and died to protect you. He saw the trap, and jumped in anyways. He really must have seen you as precious. I give him the respect he deserves as a shinobi. Was he also your first friend that you witnessed die? Friends, lovers, it doesn't matter. Death is the way of a shinobi."

"Shut up…" Naruto cried, looking down at Sasuke's body, clenching her fists. _I liked so…so much, but we were both too stubborn, and now we've missed our chance._ "I won't forgive you," she whispered. "I'll won't forgive you," she said again, turning to yell at the ice user. "I'll kill you for this," she screamed, and a menacing, red chakra began to materialize around her. For the first time, looking into the once blue eyed girls now red slitted eyes, Haku though she might feel fear…

.

.

.

Kakashi jerked around in shock. This charka…it was so evil and menacing that it even dwarfed Zabuza's. He recognized it…it was the nine tails. He gripped his heart, making himself calm down. Naruto was _not_ the nine tailed fox; he had to focus. Why would he be feeling this chakra now? No…it only weakened. It wasn't the same as the whole kyuubi. They were fine for now. Kakashi looked over at Iruka. The man had taken cut to his chest early on, protecting Tazuna and Sakura when Zsabuza tried to ambush them in the mist. Kakashi and tried to take the blow for him, but the man had held his ground regardless, telling Kakashi that as the more powerful of the two, it was more important that he stay in top condition.

Zabuza had, of course, continued his banter. He was right to point out that Kakashi had forgotten that the missing nin was a master of the silent killing technique, but being a true master also meant you were careful and took your time. This allowed Kakashi to think, and what even gave him the chance now to recognize that they were not in any immediate danger from the kyuubi. Sakura and Tazuna were safe; Anko was knocked out and Iruka was injured, but he'd be fine. However, it was time to end this.

Kakashi loosened a scroll on his vest, smearing it with the blood from his hand that Zabuza had stabbed earlier, and began his technique.

"Zabuza, I know you can hear me, so since neither of us has time to waste anymore, while this might not suit your style, it's time to end the fun, and finish this now!"

"hah, sounds interesting, but what can _you_ do in a situation like this, eh? Show me Kakashi!

"Indeed!"

.

.

.

_She's totally different form before! This isn't the girl I met in the woods_, thought Haku as she tried to attack and move as quickly as possible. _She's deflecting my attacks with pure chakra! And she's actually managing to destroy my ice mirrors!_ She looked around. _I have to keep moving to different mirrors, stay ahead of her-_ her thoughts were interrupted, much as her body was, as Naruto intercepted her between mirrors, smashing her fist into the girls mask, placing a large crack in it.

Haku flew through the air, despair filling her. Not fear of death, no. Death didn't matter, not to her. No, this despair was that she had ceased to be useful to her master. She was a broken tool. She stood slowly, waiting for the end to come as Naruto charged once more. She felt her mask breaking and falling, but it didn't matter anymore. Death would be almost sweet, a fitting end to her usefulness as a tool in the hands of her master.

Naruto stopped her fist a mere inch from Haku's face, recognizing the face of her forest friend, even in her anger. She was suddenly struggling within herself; here they were, an enemy, someone who deserved to die for killing Sasuke, and yet, a kindred spirit who understood the pain of loneliness and yet had found a purpose.

"You're from…we met in the forest," she said. Her words didn't seem to register to the other girl.

"Why did you stop," she asked softly, no fear or anger or hate in her voice. Naruto started.

"I killed your friend, the boy you liked. Can you really not kill me?" Naruto felt the anger well up in her again, and she put it into a single punch. However, she was no longer trying to kill this girl, this enemy shinobi, even as she sent her flying. She noticed vaugly that they were now standing near Anko, who had also been hurt in this fight, though she would live to see another day while Sasuke's eye's would never open again.

"What happened…to that power you had? That focus? You can't kill me this way."

"I'm not trying to kill you," Naruto mumbled. "I want to know why you did all this. This doesn't seem like the girl I met in the forest." Haku shrugged.

"It doesn't matter, but what you are doing right now is a mistake. Instead of killing someone , you take pity on them. You beat them but let them live." She shook her head. "They _only_ keep their lives. No longer do they have a dream; no longer are they needed by someone. They only feel the pain of living…"

"What are you saying!" Haku smiled sadly.

"I'm a broken tool, a weak shinobi. By beating me, you have taken away my reason for living." _When a person has something that is precious to them that they protect, that is when they can truly become strong_. Naruto remembered those words very clearly, and now she made the connection between the words she said there, in the forest, and everything she'd said today during their battle.

"No no no!" Naruto screamed, grabbing Haku's arms. "That just isn't right! That man shouldn't be your only purpose! I, I've seen the, the good in you; why can't you live for that instead?" Haku gave the other girl a friendly smile.

"Without Zabuza, I had no way to direct any powers I may have had, whether those were for good, or evil. My purpose is done.

"I had others, long ago, that were dear to me… my parents." Naruto stared as she shared her story, speaking of the blood line massacres, how her mother had hidden her powers. She told of how her father and the villagers had tried to kill them when Haku unwittingly used her powers. She had survived, even though she hardly knew how to use the powers that she had.

"But I realized the most painful thing…is living in this world, as a person who is unwanted," she said, her face grim. Naruto looked down for a moment, remembering how often she had felt like that, but how everything Anko or jii-san would come and remind her that she _was_ wanted. In Haku's case, she had had no one to tell her such things, to hold her and comfort her, to make her feel welcome and wanted…until Zabuza came. And so, to feel that need, to know that she was wanted, she'd devoted her life to him. That which everyone else hated about her, he wanted most. Only she could give it to him.

She cried, smiling at the joy that had come from feeling needed again. She remembered him telling her, oh so long ago, that he needed no one in this world. He didn't need a companion, a fan, or a family. All he needed, as a tool. She had gladly given herself to him, reassured him that that was all she wanted to be was his tool, his weapon, and extension of herself to bend to his will and accomplish his designs.

"Naruto-chan, please…kill me!"

Naruto tried to talk her out of it, grabbing her again, shaking her in frustration. The girl just stood there and took it. Finaly, Naruto sat down and cried.

"I'm sorry…that you'll have to be the one to do it, that your hands will be the ones to carry my blood and end my life."

"Is this…this can't be the only way!" Haku shook her head.

"No, it _is_ the only way. Kill me, and go on, like you promised that boy, and fulfill your _own_ dreams." Naruto bit back her tears, raising her kunai.

"I, I just wish…we could have been friends," Naruto said, and she charged.

"Thank-you," Haku said, smiling. _You will become strong_ she thought. At the last second, she felt something through the mist and stopped naruto's kunai. Confusion filled the girls face, mixing with the myriad of emotions already there. _Zabuza's in danger!_

"Sorry, Naruto, but it seems my usefulness isn't oever just yet…" Her eyes narrowed, and she moved…

.

.

.

Anko raised herself from her position on the ground; she had taken a _very_ hard hit to the head, but she'd managed to pull herself back to consciousness in the last few seconds. She remembered Naruto talking about talking with a strange girl the other morning; this was her, huh? Anko grimaced from the pain, but frowned inwardly at the girl's situation. Naruto was right; she had to have a reason besides Zabuza to live. There was always another purpose, another purpose to devote your life to; Anko's had been Orochimaru when she was a child. Then, when she had lost her purpose when he abandoned her, she'd found it again in Naruto. She had been though almost the same situation. Now, now she could save _this_ girl. If this girl had not become a friend to Naruto, Anko wouldn't even bother, but Naruto was her sister, and so she'd try. She raised her arm…

.

.

.

The mist began to clear. Sakura, being the only one not busy, was able to perceive the others through the mist first. She saw her sensei jump to Zabuza, and heard his grunt of pain.

"Now, I'm giving you one last chance to surrender," he said calmly. He didn't know why, but instead of outright killing, he'd taken a moment of pity on the man. Zabuza was a well skilled shinobi, even if he'd become a simple hired hand. Of course, having attempted a coup de etat in the mist, he would still be familiar with the country and it capabilities, more than any spy they had. Perhaps that was part of why he felt this sudden urge to spar the man's life.

The large man laughed, even as the dogs that held him down bit deeply into his flesh, and his arms hung uselessly at his side.

"hah, as if I'd ever do such a thing! I will be no caged bird, sitting in a cell all day until you leaf shinobi tire of me and send me back to Kiri for their tortures!" Kakashi sighed.

"Fine; have it your way. Instead, your future shall be death!" He stepped back and charged his jutsu, the chidori to cut through the man's chest and end it all. However, once again, his hand felt pain as he was stabbed, canceling his jutsu.

"Heh, looks like the girl's still useful after all…My future is death," he said, quoting Kakashi. "Wrong again Kakashi." Kakashi looked over across the bridge, and he saw the masked shinobi struggling against her bounds as they slithered over her. _Wait…slither?_ Looking closely he saw that Anko was slowly getting up, and that she had, indeed, summoned snakes to capture the enemy. _Hmmm…that looks more like a girl than a boy now_, he thought. _He or she must have sensed that Zabuza's life was in danger and tried to help. Of course, since Anko's been out since early in the fight, it'd be east to forget to watch for her. She must have caught her as they tried to rush over, but that Haku _is_ fast. Probably managed to throw that needle before being completely bound._ He turned to look back at Zabuza.

"Well, useful or not," he said, pulling out the needle from his hand, "not even she can help you know, and your arms are useless. It's over, Zabuza. Unless you had chosen to surrender, your future had nothing left expect for death."

As the two of them talked, Sakura spied Naruto, cheering her for her victory.

"Alright! Girls do rule! Now where's Sasuke-kun?" Naruto closed her eyes, not wanted to look her teammate in the eyes. Not only had Sasuke died, but it was Naruto, not Sakura, that he had wanted to kiss. Naruto didn't think she could tell her that, expecially after all those assurances…she had fallen for him after all, just like Sakura.

Sakura and Tazuna ran passed Naruto, the old man giving her a look of pity as they passed, and Naruto saw Sakura collapse on Sasuke's body, crying her eyes out, just like Naruto felt like doing. She wrapped her arms around herself. _Why…why did this have to happen…_

Across the way, just then, a laugh rang out.

"Hahahah; looks like you're getting royally whooped Zabuza! How...disappointing!" All faces turned to see a small man with dark glasses standing at the head of a rag tag looking group of mercenaries. Zabuza spared a glare for the man as Tazuna gulped. _This must be Gato, _Kakashi realized.

"What are you doing here," Zabuza called out. "And what's up with all of these worms?"

"Heheh, the plan has changed," Gato said. "Though actually it only changed for _you_. _I_ planned this from the beginning. You see," he said, pointing his cane at Zabuza, "I'm going to have you killed right here, right now. I was _never_ going to pay you the money. It's an old busniness plan. You hire an missing nin, all of whom have high costs, then you hire a bunch of cheaper mercenaries to kill both the missing nin and the other people who've been getting in your way after they've…_weakened_ each other a bit!

"the only problem with time," Gato said, smiling as he made fun of the man, "was _you_, Zabuza. The devil of the hidden mist? Hah, what a joke. You're just a baby demon in the end." Zabuza took it all in, barely reacting, though his mouth twitched beneath the bandages that covered his face.

"Well Kakashi," he said, "it looks like our fight is over. Seeing as how I'm not being paid to do anything anymore, I have no reason to fight you or even go after the old man."

"Ah, I guess you're right," Kakashi said. _Of course, with that man, and Zabuza being injured like he is, we _may_ actually have a little trouble taking all of these guys out._

"And you," Gato said, pointing at the trapped Haku, "I owe you for breaking my arm! And there you are, all trapped and helpless thanks to those ropes! **(A/N, he wears glasses for a reason folks; his eyes must not be to good, so he thinks the snakes are ropes)** Oh I will most enjoy taking you apart you whelp! And Zabuza right before your eyes since he seems to mean so much to you!

"So after we've finished him off, _then_ it will be your turn!" His grin became most evil then. "Yes, as helpless as you are, we should be able to do many…_fun_ things to you, right men," he said, calling out the last to the mercenaries that stood behind him. Haku's only change was to glare at the man. Naruto, however, had a different reaction. She had her head bowed and growling as the men continued their whoops and calls, some of them even going so far as to 'detail' what they planned to do to the young girl. And Zabuza just stood there, chuckling. Naruto couldn't take it anymore. She looked up, pointing at Gato with one hand while clenching the other into a fist.

"Hey don't you dare say that about her! She's a good person that doesn't deserve what you'd do to her! And you," she said, turning to point at Zabuza now, "is all you can do chuckle! Isn't Haku your friend?"

"Shut up kid," Zabuza said, not even turning to look at the girl. "She's useless now…"

"Don't you feel anything? You two have been together for years!"

"As I was used by Gato, _I_ used Haku. I've already told you: in the world of Shinobi, there are only those who use, and those who are used. We shinobi was just tools, that's it. What I wanted was her abilities, not her. I have no regrets on anything we've done.

"Do you really mean that," she growled. Kakashi grabbed her as she moved towards the wounded man.

"Naruto, hold still. He's not your enemy right now…"

"Shut up," she said, pulling away from him. "He's still _my _enemy!" Gato laughed.

"Who _is_ this dumb kid anyways, not realizing a truly dangerous man when she sees one? Haahaa!" The shinobi ignored him.

"She loves you," Naruto shouted, pointed back at the captured Haku. Said girl had now turned her face away, not wanting anyone to see the tears that were coming down her face. Yes, she did love her master, like she her mother and father before, when she had been young. Couldn't Naruto see she didn't care if she was a tool? Zabuza gave her her purpose, someone to care about. Wasn't that enough?

"She was about to kill herself to save you a moment ago, she loves you that much! Can you really not feel a thing? Nothing, nothing at all?" Tears began to fall down her face. "If I become as strong as you one day, will I really become like you?" She fought back the tears as she remembered Haku's words about dreams, precious people, and how hard it was to do what Zabuza asked of her…she wasn't herself when she served him, but giving herself to his hands _was_ still her…

"She threw away her life for you, living every moment for you, without her own dream, and she's been happy to do it!" _yes, I am, Naruto, I am! Please stop, let us live as we have; that's enough, don't keep talking to him like that…_

"To go through life, just as a tool, that's, that's just too sad…not even the person you love caring a _bit_ about you…"

"You talk too much," said Zabuza's gravelly voice, thick with smothered emotion. Looking up through her own tears, Naruto was surprised to see tears in the man's own eyes. "You know brat, it hurt her to have to fight you guys; you know, though, she fought for just for me, but you guys too…" _Huh? What's he talking about,_ Naruto wondered. Kakashi raised an eyebrow in interest. Haku's eyes had returned to her master, widened in wonder at what he was beginning to say.

"She always was too kind…" Zabuza, looked at Haku for a moment, tears continuing to fall down his face, then he shook his face to get rid of most of the water and turned to look at Naruto. "I'm glad I got to face you in the end," he said. "Yeah kid, you might be right. Shinobi are still human. We may not be capable of becoming emotionless tools." He looked over at Gato once more. "I'm beat; I don't have much fight left in me anymore, but I've got enough to teach that midget teme one more lesson, that you don't mess with my Haku-chan! She's _my_ girl, the daughter I never had. Kid, let me borrow a kunai…" Naruto looked at him surprised, but tossed him one of her kunai which he caught in his mouth. With the kunai in his mouth, muffling his voice, she almost missed his last words to her.

"Naruto, right? Take, take care of her; give her something else to live for, besides me…" Then he turned and charged, the look of a demon full on his face. The demon of the mist, in all his vengeance and all his horror had come to bare, and it was bare on Gato.

"Ahh! No, that's enough; kill them!" He ran, as well as he could, through the crowd, to the rear, as far away from Zabuza as possible. The mercenaries cheered at the idea of a fight, scoffing at the one man charge. They soon found that a demon is still a demon, even without the use of his arms. Man after man fell, and though a couple lucky son's a gun managed to stab him in the back with their swords and spears, he kept on till he broke through and had the kunai in his mouth pressed against the short crime lords throat. Of course, he was immediately stabbed again by those nearest him as he stopped, still not dying, despite all the wounds and the flowing of his blood. Gato cried out in fear and frustration.

"If, if you want to die, die and go to the same place your friend will!" Zabuza laughed.

"Unfortunately, I don't plan on going to the same place as Haku…"

"Wh, what? But, but you won't survive, so why don't you just die already?" The demon of the mist continued to laugh.

"You and I, we're going straight to hell! Even the 'unremarkable' demon of the hidden mist can die and become a _real_ demon in hell…" He had a maniacal grin on his face. "This will be fun! We'll have _plenty_ of time to see if I'm a baby demon there!" With that final pronouncement, he moved his face down, then up again, the two strokes cleanly cutting through the man's flesh and bone, sending his head flying off his body, and the demon of the mist finally dropped the kunai from his mouth, turned and smiled at Haku, and fell to the ground.

Haku's scream could even be heard through the muffle of snakes that covered her mouth, and Naruto's heart went out to her… but now the mercenaries were turning their attention to the still tired shinobi resting at the other end of the bridge; _them_.

"Hey, who's gonna pay us now!"

"Yeah, we should just kill you all and ransack this place!"

"Let's get them boys!"

"Well, this isn't good," Kakashi said. "They outnumber us pretty good." Naruto, however, was now focusing on the new danger, just grinned.

"Oh yeah? Then we'll just have to outnumber them! Shadow clone jutsu!" Of course, dozens of copies of the young blond began to appear all over the bridge, making their numbers equal to, if not greater, than that of the mercenaries. Kakashi sighed. _Well, I guess we _could_ intimidate them…_

"Shadow clone jutsu," he called out.

"Summoning jutsu!" Kakashi looked over in surprise to see Anko had managed to summon up a pair of decent sized snake summons. Well, she _had_ only been knocking in the head, after all; she should have plenty of chakra left; Iruka, of course, was in a bit too bad of a shape to handle much fighting at the moment, however. So, if the multiple clones, solid or not, hadn't been enough, the snakes had them right and ready to run. Kakashi chuckled as they began to back away, then full out run in earnest as the villagers appeared with Inari at their head holding a small crossbow.

"Don't even think about attacking our village," he cried out, and the men behind him, all holding their own handmade weapons and working tools, yelled in agreement.

"We won't be taken lightly anymore!"

"Yeah, just try and take us!"

"You'll rue the day you were born once we're done with you!" The bridge was clear of the bandits within moments, and all was well. The clones were dispelled, and the crowd cheered. Anko released her own summons as well, even the ones on Haku. The girl immediately jumped up and ran to Zabuza's body.

"Zabuza, no! No! Don't be dead!" She flung herself on his body, clutching him tightly, tears pouring down her face. "No, master Zabuza, you can't die! I need you! I don't want to live without a purpose again!" She flinched in surprise when a large hand cupped her cheek, and she looked down to see the once great man smiling at her softly, though the pain of movement was evident in his face.

"Haku, don't, don't cry; it's better this way. You, you were always meant for a better place than myself anyways…" he sighed. "If I must be your purpose, if my dream would be yours, then here is my dream: _live_, Haku, live and be happy. That girl, she'll be a true friend, the likes of which I never was. She'll make sure you're safe and cared for where ever you go. She has an even bigger heart than you, I think-" He coughed, a little blood coming out as he did so.

"Master, please, rest! We, we can take you somewhere, make you better!" He shook his head.

"No! This is better, for both of us; be yourself, Haku, and live for me…I love you…as my daughter…live, and be happy, knowing that that is what I want for you…"

"no, no Zabuza…" He put a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Haku! I'm a dead man. Please, let me die knowing you will live…and be happy…let me die…knowing my dream for you… will be… realized…" She saw the pleading in his eyes, the light slowly fading despite his best efforts to fight it off. He was putting off his death, if only by moments, to tell her these last words. She looked up, over at Naruto, whose head was down, a few tears being shared for Haku's loss. She saw the other women…Anko?...and the compassion in her eyes, and the pain. Not from where Zabuza had hit her, but from inside, as though she knew what Haku felt…was that even possible? She looked back down at her master and tightened her grip on him, bracing herself.

"Yes, yes, master Zabuza…_father_…I, I will see your dream fulfilled…" A peaceful smile spread on the man's face, and his grip on her relaxed.

"Good; good. Now take care…and when you _do_ die…I, I wouldn't mind a visit, of Shinigami might, might let you visit me…" And finally, the demon of the mist closed his eyes, dying with a smile on his face.

Meanwhile, back where Sasuke had fallen, protecting Naruto, Sakura lay crying on his chest, shocked to hear a familiar voice.

"S, Sakura, I, I can't breathe with you laying on me like that…" She looked up in shock, then cried again in joy and hugged onto him tightly, then helping him to sit up.

"Sasuke-kun! You're alive! I'm, I'm so glad you're alright!" Naruto and Kakashi looked over at the girls outburst. Kakashi looked surprised…for him, that is. He never showed much in way of surprise. Naruto's jaw dropped however, and she looked back and forth between Haku and Sasuke, wondering what was going on.

"I never intended to kill him," she said, almost whispering, not sure she could control her voice is she spoke louder, eye's shut tight as she continued to kneel next to her dead master's body. "He would have only been unconscious until we fulfilled our, our mission…" Naruto paused, not sure what to do. She wanted to hug Haku in thanks and relief; she wanted to hug Sasuke like Sakura was doing; she wanted to yell at _both_ of them for scaring her like that. She settled for smiling happily at Sasuke, who was looking over Sakura's shoulders at her, and he smiled back, then she walked over to Haku to give her the hug that _she_ needed now, and the other girl latched onto her, crying into her arms. _Well_, Anko thought, _that was probably the smartest thing Naruto's ever done. Sakura wouldn't be able to handle the idea of Naruto and Sasuke just now…let her have a her moment; besides, they need to figure out what they're going to do about their confessions at a more…_appropriate_ time._

Kakashi, meanwhile, not knowing about the confession, merely thought_ Naruto really is growing and maturing; I'll have to keep an eye on Haku myself, though; she'll be in a pretty bad state for a few days, like I was when Rin and sensei and everyone died._ Just then Iruka stirred, and of course, Anko, rushed to his side, having recovered pretty well.

"Iruka kun! Are you alright? Where does it hurt…OH MY GOSH! HOW _DARE_ YOU SCAR YOUR CHEST BEFORE I EVER GOT A CHANCE TO SEE YOU WITH YOUR SHIRT OFF!" Kakashi laughed loudly till she sent him one of the most evil glares he'd ever seen and then got back to carefully ripping off her boyfriends shirt so that she could tend to his wound. At this point the villagers were starting to either walk off back to the village to celebrate or prepare tending the wounded shinobi, or they were spreading out to see what they could do right then to help. Tazuna remained wary of Haku for the time, but he insisted that she be brought to his home and cared for, since she was important to Nartuo.

The next day they buried Zabuza on a nearby hill, paying their last respects to the great shinobi. Haku stayed by the grave for a good while, leaning against the blade that was now buried deep in the ground. After everyone else left, Naruto stayed with her, and Kakashi, of course, though he remained hidden in the trees. It was, after all, a perfect situation for her to commit suicide if she let the grief overcome her. After a while, she spoke to Naruto.

"He loved it, you know, being at the top of a hill." The blond just gave her a questioning look, and then she continued. "He said it felt like he could see the world from places like this; you could reach out your hand and it would look like you where holding it all, right there. Miles and miles in just the few square inches of space that exist in your palm. He said that the world was made for that, holding life in your hands, and it's up to you to decide what to do with it once you have it in your grasp." She looked back over her shoulder at Naruto, and smiled. "I guess before, my hands just held his as _he_ held the world, but now he's placed the world in my hands." She looked back at the grave. "I always liked flowers and making things pretty; I think I'd like to work in a flower shop to save some money, then someday move into designing things. Does that sound like a good idea to you?" Naruto smiled, putting her arm over the taller girls shoulder and turning them to walk back towards Tazuna's home.

"Yeah, that sounds like a _great_ idea, Haku chan. It's a great idea…"

Kakashi smiled as they walked away. _She'll be just fine_, he thought. He stood up, about to leave when he noticed that it was starting to snow. _Hmmm…now this _is_ odd…_ He looked over at the retreating forms of Naruto and Haku, then back at Zabuza's grave. _Well, maybe one day, when she's lived her life to the fullest, Haku will be back with you again anyways. Perhaps you aren't cut out for hell after all._ Smile on his face, he jumped to the ground and walked back towards the house. It had been a long mission for team 7 and company, but it had certainly been worthwhile.

* * *

**So i'm curious, was it immediatly obvious that Haku was a girl in this one, or did it take a little bit to realized what i'd done this time around? This _was_ the part i talked about in the intro that i didn't plan. I was gonna keep it cannon, make Haku a boy, and kill him off, but sometimes the story writes itself, and _her_ surviving just that way. It was especially cool for me to write that part at the grave, where she talks about 'holding the world in your hand'. What did you think of that?**

**Oh, also, though _i_ know the end pairings, keep in mind that Naruto is, as of yet, unaware of Kiba's attraction to her. More drama next chapter, and the loss of a friend. (on that note, kakashi is unaware of Hinata and Naruto's friendship, hence him saying that she never really had a friend).**

**Well, that's about all i have to say for now. I just want to get this posted!**

**As always, if you see any mistakes i missed, let me know and i'll fix them later. Thank-you, c u later!**

**also, for all of you that have alerted, faved, or reviewed that i haven't replied to yet, i'm so sorry! I try to make an effort to thank each of you individually, but as i said, i've been working like crazy and am a bit behind. As i relax during break i'm going to get caught up on that, but for now, know that i thank-you all for you following and comments!**


	12. Drama and, ANOTHER EXAM!

**Alright, new chapter! I apologize now for the lateness of the update, especially since i told a few of you that it would be up last monday...then that tuesday...after that, i decided to play it by ear since i was having trouble getting the chance to sit down and actually finish it up. To top it off, for some reason i had trouble staying up at ALL every day last week, and then getting up in the morning. I was even lacking sleep or anything,i just couldn't stay up, and I do most of my writing before I go to bed at night because that's when everything else is done.**

**Anyways, another long chapter, but unlike last time, this will be almost completely original to my story line, and guess what? THE SAND SIBS HAVE ARRIVED! YEAH! They make their appearance at the end of this chapter, and I'm so glad I finally made it to this point in the story. It felt like it was taking forever!**

**There will also be some definite drama here for team 7, and especially for Naruto-chan. Introducing the Kiba crush... What will he do? What will she do? How will it affect her relationship with Sasuke? Read and find out how it all starts! Final resolutions for pairings will occur at the end of the story, so no one should give up on their hoped for pairings just yet.**

**Alight, time to ****RR&E! Read review and enjoy!**

**disclaimer- don't own Naruto, just having fun and practicing my writing for future personal endeavors.**

* * *

It had been two days since the attack at the bridge. Everyone was recovering just fine from the wounds that they had taken, and Naruto was doing all she could to show Haku that the girl mattered to them. She was always asking her questions to find out more about her and her time with Zabuza. It turned out that she had been in many countries by this time, and seen many things. She was able to tell Naruto many stories about other countries, how their governments worked, and even what type of shinobi they had. Naruto hung onto every single detail. This fascinated her teammates who had seen her in the classroom and knew how easily she was distracted or made bored. Haku, however, was very patient with Naruto, and every time she was confused, found a way to explain it to her that made sense.

During this time, Haku had also noticed Naruto and Sasuke exchanging looks frequently, but they never seemed to take time alone together. It was almost like they were avoiding what they had talked about on the bridge when Sasuke was 'dying'. It frustrated her, especially as she knew how short life was, especially for shinobi. This particular evening, she decided to try and force it.

"So, Naruto, are you and Sasuke-" She had been surprised by Naruto's speed before, when she had counter attacked after Sasuke's near death, but the speed with which she jumped over the table and coverer her mouth was astounding.

"Hey, how silly, me and Sasuke, haha! Oh, that's a good one Haku-chan. Hey, how about we go outside and you can show me how those mail shinobi did that letter swap thing…" Haku followed the other girl, amused by her reaction, not failing to notice the panicked looks that she had thrown at her pink haired teammate, Sakura. Once outside Naruto threw both of them behind a tree and looked back at the house as if in panic. Haku's eyebrow remained quirked at the oddity of it all.

"So, are you going to explain, Naruto?" Naruto flinched a little, but she seemed satisfied that no one was going to be coming after them. It was still slowly and carefully, however, that she motioned for Haku to keep quiet and follow her a little further from the house. Soon they were sitting in the same clearing that they had first met face to face, and Naruto sighed as she began to explain.

It actually felt somewhat therapeutic, and having known the fear of being hunted for several reasons, Naruto felt that she could share with the other girl her secret, that of the demon that slept within her. So, she started from the beginning, with her birth and the attack of the kyuubi. She had had the kyuubi sealed into her, and so had lived a hard life, even with the Hokage and his family looking after her. She came to the graduation exam, and the betrayal of Mizuki. Haku held the younger girls hand as she recounted the events of _that_ night, and all the pain that had come with it before the joy. Of course, she couldn't help but laugh at the accidental kiss a few days later. It was then that Naruto paused.

"It's funny, but I think that maybe _that's_ about when I started to look at him differently," she said. "Except for Kiba who just made fun of me most of the time, I never really paid attention to the boys; they were annoying, and always thought they were better, just 'cause they're boys!" She shook her head. "Sasuke was…the same but different. He _does_ think he's better, but it's his blood, not his gender, and he never really talks about it. The other boys are always yelling about how great they are, but Sasuke just sits there and shrugs it all off like he doesn't even care, like he doesn't need to prove how strong he is in some 'macho man-athon'. He's always so quite. The guy never talks!" She laughed. "That's probably why all the other girls fell for him: he never talked so they never knew how annoying his is!" Haku cocked her head sideways in confusion.

"So, if he's so annoying, why do you like him?" Naruto shook her head.

"I'm not really sure. I mean, he _is_ strong, not just acting like he is like other boys do, and even though he's annoying, he can be… really _gentle_ sometimes, though mostly with me." She glanced back at the house. "And don't ever tell him I said it, or Anko even (she'll never let me live it down), but he _is_ kind of…cute," she said, saying the last word quietly, as if fearing it would be over heard. Haku smiled.

"Naruto-chan, it sounds to me like you like him because he kissed you." Naruto stared at her in shock.

"What? No, no, I, I just started _noticing_ him after the kiss, that's all!" Haku patted her shoulder lightly.

"I'm not saying that it's a bad thing, Naruto-chan, especially not since he obviously cares about you, the way he threw his life away to protect yours, but you are both still children, as am I, and we're all going through changes. Our bodies are becoming more attractive…and more attract_ed_ to the other gender. You're about twelve, right?" Naruto nodded. "I had my first period about then, and that was when…when my master stared to keep me away from boys, to make sure that I would never consider leaving him because of my hormones." She looked at the other girl. Naruto had a mixture of feelings on her face. Anger at Zabuza for treating Haku the way he had, disgust for the 'female' talk, and a wince.

"Hmmm…you had your first period not too long ago, didn't you?" Naruto sulked, looking away.

"Yeah, so what? It doesn't matter that it was…right after…exams and before…that…" Naruto blushed. Haku, of course, giggled.

"Naruto-chan, it's alright! A crush just means that you get to know someone you like better, so then you have _good_ reasons to like someone besides a kiss." Naruto gave her a light slug on the arm.

"Yeah, whatever." They leaned back and lay on the ground for a little while after that, hands behind their heads as they looked up at the sky poking through the trees and listening to the birds. After a little while Haku spoke up again.

"So, when are you two going to talk about it anyways? Or are you afraid Sakura will get mad?" Naruto sighed.

"I promised her that I didn't like Sasuke, that I wasn't going after him." She closed her eyes. "I feel like I'm betraying her for liking him."

"Hmmm…I see. She really like him, then," Haku asked, turning her head to look over at the other girl. Naruto nodded.

"She's had a crush on him since the early academy days; her and just about every other girl," she scoffed.

"Yes, I see how that could make the situation difficult." Haku looked back up at the sky. "Still, the two of you need to talk and make a decision. You can either see each other, or not."

"Yeah, but, but what if, that is how…"

"That's why you talk with him about it. And don't worry about Sakura. I'm sure I can find something to distract her so that you and Sasuke can have a few minutes or so alone to figure things out. He keeps blushing when it looks at you, by the way." Naruto blushed herself, hearing that.

"Huh; and here I thought he was so cold he must be a vampire. Well, if he has enough blood to blush, I guess we can rule that one out after all." Haku chuckled and they stopped talking to look at the sky again.

.

.

.

Sasuke, looking down at his food, almost face faulted when he heard Haku speak up, but Naruto saved them, for the moment, with her speedy exit, even if it did make everyone quirk an eyebrow. So instead of falling into his bowl, he kept his movements clean and steady…even with everyone now staring at him.

"Naruto and you what? What was she talking about Sasuke-kun," Sakura asked, and he could hear the suspicion in her voice. He calmly took his time, tilting his bowl back to get the remnants of the soup into his mouth before placing his bowl down on the table.

"She said the other day that Naruto and I needed to work on coordinated attacks. After all, she _was_ our enemy a few days ago, and she said that watching us fight inside her ice dome showed her that we needed to be more trained as partners." He shrugged. "I guess she might be right. After all, we worked good together facing Zabuza the first time, but that was still relying on sensei, not just ourselves. Two different kinds of team work. Naruto's still just too embarrassed about it, especially since she thought, from sensei's bell test, that she knew teamwork pretty good." He lifted his bowl again, chopsticks in hand. "More soup please, Tsunami-san?" Sakura bought it, though the adults looked at him suspiciously, even though they were willing to let it slide.

_Even if he _did_ make that up, it may be true. You can't always depend on your whole team, just like then when Zabuza effectively kept us out of their fight, which they themselves were trapped in, not able to come to us. I'll have to talk with Haku later about what happened in the ice dome…_

The next day Haku asked Sakura to help her find some flowers and herbs for decoration…and for that nights dinner. She and Tsunami would be cooking together while the workmen, including Inari who had left for the bridge earlier with his grandfather, finished the bridge. If all went well, it would be done the next day, finally. She gave Naruto a meaningful look as she left, indicating that now was the time to get Sasuke alone and talk with him. Naruto thought for a moment, then got up.

"Hey! We haven't even trained for real in days! Sensei, shouldn't me an Sasuke make sure we can still do the tree climbing?" Sasuke folded his arms.

"Pft, dobe. _You_ may be that pathetic, but I actually remember the things I learn." _Do I like him enough not to kill him for that? There must be ways to make it look like an accident…_

"Well, actually, it's true that you can lose the control you gain, just like anything else. Your body may remember it, but it can lose, at least for a while, the ability to do it." Kakashi made a shooing motion with his hand. "Go on, work on the trees for a little while, then we can do some sparing over at the bridge, unless you want o help building?" Sasuke rolled his eyes, but he got up, following the enthusiastic looking Naruto out the door.

_She's up to something_ thought Anko, and she stood to go follow them, but Kakashi held out a hand.

"Yes, she is," he said, "but I they probably need to be alone anyways. They've been off the last few days and they need to work out whatever it is that's creating the problem." Anko sat down, chuckling.

"Isn't it obvious? They like each other bone head!" Kakashi shrugged.

"Not news to me. They blush around each other all the time, and Sasuke has a tendency to be…a little _gentler_ around Naruto." Anko smiled.

"Really? Heh, that's kinda funny. Naruto-chan's pretty dense, though. Does she even get it?" Iruka, who had been lying just behind Anko reading a textbook he would be teaching from spoke up.

"Well, she id dense, but somehow I think it's gotten out. They both know and they both know that they know." The adults looked at him curiously. He looked over at them. "What?"

"Well, what makes you so sure that they know?" Iruka rolled his eyes, smirking as he turned back to his book while Anko turned around slightly so that her arms wrapped around his knee, head resting on her arm.

"I teach kids their age all the time. I know how kids act when they know they like each other but don't want to talk about it. In this case, it's probably because Naruto and Sakura are on better terms than they used to be and Naruto feels bad because she feels like she's betraying her friends trust by even _liking_ Sasuke." Anko stared at him with wide eyes while Tsunami and Kakahsi looked at him in bewilderment for his 'matter-of-fact' manner as he said all this.

"Hahaha! I _knew_ there was a reason I feel for you beside how you-"

"Akno! Give it a rest," Iruka yelled, jolting up to cover her mouth. The moment his hand came down she stuck her tongue out at him and pushed him back down.

"Whatever; now get some rest or you won't be well enough when we back to Konoha to have some _real_ fun in your-"

"ANKO!" Kakashi laughed. Oh theirs was a _fun_ relationship!

.

.

.

A little away from the house Sasuke stopped.

"Alright," he said, "what's going on Naruto? Maybe they don't get you, but I do." She stopped walking and he waited for her to turn around. He was left waiting for several minutes. "It's about what we said on the bridge, isn't it." Naruto finally turned, looking over her shoulder at him, blushing a little, a shy look on her face.

"Well, yeah, I guess." Sasuke smirked.

"So, are you going to confess your undying love after all?"

"Teme," she said, glaring at him. All the while he kept that same smirk till she turned around, folding her arms stubbornly. "Fine, I don't care," she said. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder, and Sasuke spoke gently.

"Naruto-chan, I meant what I said on the bridge. I thought that I was dying to save you, and I would do it again without a thought. I like you a lot, but I've been waiting for you to make a decision." Naruto turned to give him a look of confusion.

"Decision? About what?"

"You're friends with Sakura, aren't you? It bothers you, and you've been avoiding deciding on what to do because of her." He sighed. "I can't lie, but it bothers me some too. I may not like her like _that_, but she _is_ my teammate…and I guess a friend. I'm betting she feels like that more to you." Naruto looked down.

"Well, I told her that I wasn't interested in you, that I didn't care and you were all hers. I, I don't want to, to…betray her. It would kill her if she knew…" It was silent for a moment, feeling very awkward for a moment before Sasuke lifted up Naruto's chin.

"She doesn't _have_ to know…" The blonde's eyes widened.

"You mean, you mean, be secret? But, but that's ly-"

"Deceptive," Sasuke said, cutting in. "Deception is something we live with all the time. Everyone has secrets, and it's not like we'd always have to be like that. If, if we stayed together, eventually Sakura's going to get over me, and that will take care of it. We could tell her then." Naruto shook her head.

"No, that's just wrong! I, I can't lie to her, she's my friend." Sasuke sighed.

"I thought you'd feel that way. But it's the only way we could be together without hurting her. If not, well, then we've kissed twice and we never will again. We avoid it all together, never talk more than we need to, and it keep it professional." Naruto quirked an eyebrow.

"Professional? That's a big word for this, don't you think." Sasuke shrugged.

"We're shinobi Naruto-chan. It's our profession so no, I think it's entirely appropriate, even if you…" He cut himself off, grimacing, but Naruto knew what he would have said.

"Why do I like you anyways," she almost shouted, throwing off his hand that was still on her shoulder and getting in his face. "You're always so arrogant and mean! If something doesn't benefit you, it's not even worth your notice! I'm probably just a part of some stupid scheme of yours to some other stupid goal you have!" Sasuke winced visibly at the accusation.

"Naruto, I wouldn't never use you like that-"

"And yet you encouraged me to lie to Sakura-chan! You were totally justifying it!" Naruto was fuming now, yelling full out at the Uchiha. For him, it was torture. He moved suddenly, pinning her arms to her side.

"I WOULD NEVER TRY TO HURT YOU!"

"LET GO OF ME YOU CREEP!"

"I'M SORRY, ALRIGHT!" Now _that_ made Naruto shut up. She'd never heard the boy say he was sorry for anything. She grinned wryly and chuckled.

"Heeheehee, care to say that again, Uchiha?" He glared at her, his lips twitching with effort.

"I'm…sorry," he repeated, his voice low. "I know it was…_wrong_ to ask you to betray our teammates trust, but I, I just want to be able to, to be with you and, and see what it would be like." It was his turn to look away. "My mom used to tell me that I needed to be friends with you," he said and, while still very low, his voice had a new, soft tone to it. "She never liked how the villagers were treating you, and she told me that, when I got to the academy, I should be your friend." There were a few moments of silence as Naruto looked at him in wonder.

"So, so why weren't we?" Sasuke sighed.

"Ever since my brother…killed our clan, I've been blocking everything out, but now…" he looked back into her eyes. "Now I look at you, and I think, I don't have to focus on Itachi every moment. I can let someone in. I can plan for the after, too have a life with someone. And I think I'd like to do it with you." Naruto blushed.

"We're, we're kinda young to be thinking about that, you know," she said. Sasuke cracked a grin.

"Yeah, maybe, but it doesn't keep us from doing it anyway. I, I know that most likely this won't last, that we'll each find someone else, but, but I know my mom would want me to find some happiness, even while I'm still working to avenge her death. I think she would be especially happy to know that it's _you_ that I want to try and find some happiness with." Naruto moved in, giving him a soft hug and snuggling slightly into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her in return.

"Well, you always _have_ been a bit too emo for your own good," she said. "Maybe I can take some time to try and…expose you to another side of life."

"Yeah, maybe so…it could take a lot of work, though."

"Psha, so? If I don't learn to work hard I'll _never_ be Hokage!" Sasuke chuckled and soon the two were making their way back to the house holding hands, having forgotten completely that they were supposed to have been training. As they were about to come into view, Naruto turned, glancing around once more.

"I, I don't want to hurt Sakura so, so we _will_ keep it a secret that we're, you know…" Sasuke nodded, letting go of her hand.

"We'll find a way for her to be happy without me. After all, there has to be _some _boy that can put up with her yelling-ow!" He rubbed his arm where Naruto had slugged it. She winked.

"I think it's our job to work on that _for_ her; so, I'll get to her to stop yelling, you find her another boy!" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Yeah whatever. Let's just get back."

"K!"

.

.

.

The bridge was son completed, and there was a lot of celebration that went on afterwards. The people celebrated heartily their pathway back to economic stability and independence. They would never be taken over by men like Gato again.

The Konoha shinobi left the next morning, never even knowing the name of the bridge.

"Naruto," Tazuna said, "for the girl that gave us back our courage. A more brave little girl I've never known." His family smiled in agreement around him, the villagers showing their approval by their clapping. _Thank-you, Naruto_, he thought, _he have shown me, and my family, and even this whole _village_ the meaning of courage…and you will forever have my respect and admiration_.

For the shinobi, the trip back was relatively uneventful. There were no more surprise attacks, no bad weather, and not even any annoying bugs. The adults kept a little ahead, talking about the academy (mostly; Anko kept making suggestions that made Iruka blush and Kakashi giggle). The kids were behind them a few meters. Haku asked many questions about the village and, though she felt loath to admit it, Sakura told her that the Yamanaka's had the best flower shop around and if she really wanted to get into that kind of thing and save her money, that was the place to go. With Ino being a shinobi now, they would need another helper to cover the girl's shifts.

Sasuke kept silent, as he was want to do, and Naruto kept making loud comments about the most random things (who in the world brought up ramen? Or snakes for that matter?) The two nights that they had to camp, Naruto and Sasuke would casually make sure that they had the shifts next to each other. The first would wake the other a half hour early and they would sit together for the next hour before the other would to bed. They talked quietly, held hands, pecked each other's cheeks her and there. They wouldn't do a full kiss until the other went to bed. Even with that Naruto was a bit uncomfortable. She was worried that they were moving faster than they should, even though they _had_ already kissed. Sasuke would smile and nod, saying, "Whatever you feel is best."

When it came down to it, he could be quite understanding, despite his uncaring facade he put up all the time. It helped that he was just an inexperienced as she was. Neither had ever dated anyone, so they decided that if either felt uncomfortable with something, they would say it, and the other would accept.

Once back in the village, Naruto excitedly ran into her grandfathers office, full of spirit and desire to give the mission report. Of course, that was before he gave her a rather wrath filled glare. She quailed beneath it, running to hide behind Sasuke, much to the latter's embarrassment.

"Naruto, stop being such a scaredy cat; you're going to tear my clothes." She stuck her tongue out at him and went to hide behind Anko instead. She was scarier anyways.

"Ahem." The hokage turned his glare to Kakashi. The man managed to not take a step back.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself, eh Kakashi? A missing nin like Zabuza shows up and you _kept going?_ What if my granddaughter had gotten killed!"

"I would have made sure she didn't, Hokage-sama," Haku said. The hokage turned to look at the possessor of the unfamiliar voice. It was a girl wearing a pink kimono with a floral design, along with a plain black choker, hair hanging loosly down to her lower back. He eyed her up and down.

"Who might you be, miss? And please explain what you meant by that comment." Haku bowed.

"My name is Haku, Hokage-sama, and until recently, I was Zabuza-sama's subordinate." The hokage's eyes widened and everyone could feel the change in his demeanor. He was ready for a fight at the slightest hint. Kakashi sighed mentally. _I should have been more explanative of Haku's position in that letter_ he thought. _But honestly, he should have been able to connect the dots…._

"My late master gave me into your villages care as he died, specifically to Naruto, as I understand. He has told me to live my life on my own. That is how I came to be here.

"However, before, as his subordinate, I was often asked to kill for him, though I disliked it. Being as young as she is, and having become friends quickly, I would made sure that she would not have died, but put her into a temporary death like state, as I did with…" she looked over at Sasuke, realizing that she probably shouldn't have mentioned that she had 'killed' the Uchiha in their battle. The hokage was starting to really fume. It was then that Anko spoke up.

"Hokage-sama, are only two of our reports opened?" She pointed to the envelopes on the desk. The hokage stopped, jaw half open to yell at them, embarresment coming over his face.

"Well, that is, very busy and, little time…" She rolled her eyes as Iruka slapped his forehead.

"You don't have to worry about her every second old man! Naruto- chan's tough! If I really thought she might die _I_ would have pulled her out! If you'd taken a few mintues to actually read the reports we sent you'd _know_ already that she was fine and did great!" The old man slumped back into his chair, deflated. Naruto dared to peak out from behind the older Kunoichi who winked at her, smirking.

"Well, I admit I may have been…negligent of my work since I learned of the danger." He winced. "I actually wasn't sure I wanted to read the reports." He looked over at Naruto. "I'm sorry, but I was scared for you. I've lost many people dear to me, though few have been as young as you when I lost them. I was afraid that I'd open a report and see Kakashi telling me that you were dead, but as long as the reports kept coming, it meant that you would be alive; I preferred not to read, with that in mind." He bowed his head. "I'm sorry." He soon found himself gasping for air as he was put into a tight hug from his granddaughter.

"Awww Jii-san! You know better than that! I'm a shinobi now, and Kakashi sensei's awesome at making sure we're taken care of anyways." Kakashi winced. Sure, to her he may have seemed like that, but he knew better. For example, leaving out his many mistakes of the past, notably Rin, he had allowed Sasuke to find Haku alone, not immediately seeking to help him or to take care of their other problem at the time, Zabuza, instead choosing to 'show off' his students. While yes, he still believed in his students and their strength, he should have known better than to be so careless in such a high risk situation. No one seemed to notice his wince, though, and the scene continued.

"Ali1' Llright already Naruto! I need to breath!" Laughing, Naruto let go. The Hokage breather deeply for a moment before his ruffled Naruto's hair. "Alright you little brat, you and your teammates can go. I'll go over the rest of the mission report with the others and I'll bring your pay for the mission home with me."

"Alright! Now I can show Haku our house and where she'll sleep and-" She stopped as he raised a hand.

"No, for the moment Haku needs to stay behind." Naruto stared.

"But, but, but-" He wagged a finger.

"No buts about it. It's true that I didn't read all the reports, so I need her here before I decide what to do with her." The older girl paled slightly, but was comforted by Iruka. He did, after all, have the most experience reassuring people her age.

"It will be okay," he said. "You were never officially a shinobi, so there is little they even _could_ do to you that's worth being scared about, and since Naruto's already made it a point that you two are friends, he's going to be especially careful to make sure _nothing_ happens." He gave her a wink. "he has a soft spot for her, and she has this look that makes him crumble faster than dry leaf." The hokage sputtered denials, but the lightness of atmosphere, and the obviousness that Naruto did _indeed_ have a great deal of control over the old man, was quite comforting. So the two girls parted with a quick hug and a promise that they would see each other again soon at Ichiraku's. Anko agreed to show her the way, nudging Iruka (who winced as he was still recovering from the slash on his chest) saying she would drop the girl off there while infuring that she had Iruka would be having some 'private time' afterwards. More male sputtering ensued and a laughing Naruto exited with her teammates as they headed out to eat in celebration of their first completed 'real ninja mission'.

.

.

.

Over the next couple of days, Haku tagged along with team 7 as they completed a few 'd' ranks so that she could get to understand the lay of the village. She also took the room next to Naruto's at the hokage's home. Having had a fair sized family in the past, the Sarutobi residence was fairly large, so there was little trouble finding the space for her.

Konohamaru was shocked to see her at the table the next morning. He'd coming running back up the stairs yelling that there was a pretty lady in the dinning room and accusing his grandfather of many horrible things. He calmed down quickly, though he was shy around Haku for the first few days. It would only be a few weeks before he would be referring to her as his 'honorary sister'. Haku would always chuckle at the reference, happy to have what felt like a family again.

On the third day they finished early and Sakura said that she was sure Ino wouldn't be at the flower shop, so she could show Haku were it was that day and she could ask about work. Sasuke and Naruto used to time to take a walk in the forest. They used the Uchiha's training district to avoid any prying eyes.

"So, how is it feeling," Sasuke asked as Naruto held onto his arm. He put a finger to her lips thoughtfully.

"Well, I still don't like that we're fooling Sakura-chan, but…it feels nice," she said. Sasuke smiled.

"Yeah, same here." Naruto laughed; Sasuke frowned. "What are you laughing about?"

"Well, it's so odd to see you smile, you're always so gloomy!" Sasuke 'harumphed', sulking until Naruto finished her thought. "But you look so cute when you smile." Sasuke managed a bored look, but he couldn't quite keep the smirk off of his face. This time he ignored the giggle.

"As odd as it is to see _me_ smile, it's probably even odder to hear you giggle like one of my fan girls." She socked him hard in the arm, but it was worth it.

The days continued like that. They didn't see much of the other rookie teams except in passing. Naruto was thinking that she needed to just give up on sensei showing up on time and going to the mission hall early so that she could talk with Hinata. She'd been wanting her advice on relationships, and she also just wanted to talk with her friend again. Hinata had always been a calm personality. It was refreshing, especially next to Sakura's constant yelling. However, it was after team practice one day that she ran into Kiba instead.

She had been planning on going on another walk with Sasuke, but then jii-san had asked her to pick up some things after their mission. A quick nod and she and Sasuke knew that they'd have to forgo their walk till the next day. So, there she was, jogging down the roads, taking a couple short cuts when she ran into Kiba…literally.

"Ow! Hey, watch where you're going mutt!" Naruto rubbed her forehead trying to ease the pain. Kiba picked himself up into a sitting postion.

"hehe, sorry about that Naruto-chan! I was supposed to help out at the kennel today, but Akamaru and I got caught up in our training." He stood up, holding out a hand to help her as Akamaru barked his concern. Naruto rolled her eyes.

"I'm not so flimsly I need help getting up." Kiba shrugged.

"Yeah, I know, but guys are supposed to offer girls help up." Naruto pushed his hand away, standing up on her own.

"Feh, just because girls are supposed to be 'weaker' than guys, right? So guys have to protect us 'wimpy girls' from hurting ourselves as we fall over again." Kiba cringed, Akamaru letting his ears fall, putting his tail between his legs.

"I don't think you're wimpy," he said softly.

"As if you care anyways," Naruto said. "All you ever do is make fun of me. Sasuke's a lot better than-"

"What? Sasuke doesn't give a rats half baked behind about anyone but himself! I may not be a good talker, but that doesn't mean I don't…umm…"

"Hey, Sasuke-kun does _too_ care!" Naruto clapped a hand to her mouth. She'd been making sure to still just call him Sasuke-_san_, to keep up the appearances, but she'd just let slip. Kiba stared.

"No way," he said. "No way! You two! Arg! What did that guy ever do to deserve a girl like you!" Naruto put her hands down, instead placing them on her hips defiantly.

"Well, at least he knows to say sorry when he insults a girl!"

"What? I've apologized to you plenty of times! I even said I wanted to have you on my team back when we were in the academy." Naruto flushed, remembering that he had _indeed_ said that. She brushed it off.

"Well, Sasuke knows how to be a teammate, even with if one of them _is_ one of his 'annoying fangirls'" she said, imitating Sasuke's voice in one of his most well known academy sayings. Kiba prepared to yell back at her again, but then paused, holding up a finger.

"One?" He said. "Just one? Sakura for sure, but if _aren't_ a fangirl…no, no what in _heck_ has he gone on a date with you." Naruto flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"Well, unlike you, maybe he has good pick in women."

"Hey! I've have great taste in women!"

"Oh yeah? Then tell me, who would you say is the best looking girl from our academy class, huh? Say it!" Kiba looked around uncomfortably. He looked down at Akamaru.

"Hey boy, keep an eye out, would ya?" The small dog barked in the affirmative, running off and out of sight. Naruto eyed the Inuzuka suspiciously.

"Why'd you do that?" Kiba blushed.

"Because I feel embarrassed because I'm about to admit something; I haven't said anything for years, but now that you're dating Sasuke, I have to say it!"

"Heh; Sasuke doesn't feel embarrassed to say-"

"Don't you get it," Kiba practically yelled, grabbing her by her shoulders. "That jerk doesn't deserve you! He doesn't even care about anyone but himself!" Naruto tried to get out of his grip, but the Inuzuka had a tight grip on her, refusing to let go yet.

"Let go of me, Kiba; I date who I want to date, and I-" she was cut off as Kiba moved in, kissing her. She was in total shock. Kiba was kissing her? _Kiba?_ Since when did _he_ like _her_? Sure, despite what she'd just been yelling at him they'd pretty much always been friendly and all, except when he made fun of girls... but he had always stood up for her when the other kids made fun of her, and he had a fierceness to his kiss that Sasuke didn't, a fire that filled it with energy and playfulness and…no!

Naruto put up her hands and violently pushed him away. He stumbled backwards, catching his balance. His grip had relaxed as he'd been kissing her, and he now sported a major blush. Naruto breathed heavily for a few seconds before speaking.

"No, this isn't, this isn't right! I, I-" She clenched her fist. "Why did you do that you stupid dog!" Kiba flinched, but he didn't back down.

"Why should Sasuke get to have you? I've liked you for years, always waiting for you to be ready, so why can't it be me!" Naruto shook her head.

"It, it doesn't work like that! You, you can't just _kiss_ someone else's girlfriend!"

"So? What if maybe you liked kissing me better than him? What if I make a better boyfriend? After all, you seemed to be enjoying it!" Naruto gasped, realizing that she had indeed kissed him back.

"That, that as a mistake! I, I just, I never…" She sat down, leaning against the wall, gripping her arms as if she was cold and not looking at Kiba. "Why? Why does this have to happen now?"

"Huh?" She still didn't look at the boy, but after a few seconds she spoke to him again.

"For years no one would even pay attention to me, no one liked me, and now, right when I find someone who _likes_ me, someone _else_ decides they like me, too! I, I only want to go one step at a time! I don't want all of this!" Kiba laughed, earning him a glare that set him shivering.

"Hey, it's what we do! It's puberty! The guys start liking the girls, especially the pretty ones like you. I liked you_ before_ that, though. I noticed you for years, but I didn't want to rush it, so I tried to be funny and stupid to make you laugh, or even just to get in a fight with you so I could talk with you. I wanted to be friends, and more than friends, but you always just kept pushing me away, never letting me in. I just wanted you to like me back!" Naruto shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Kiba. If you'd actually acted like you liked me instead of making all of those…stupid jokes you used to get me to notice you…maybe, maybe something could have happened, but you have to really be a friend if you want someone to like you!" She stood up, turning to walk away.

"I, I have to go now. See you around."

"Naruto, I-"

"BYE!" She ran off, leaving the boy standing there, arm outstretched. As she disappeared he turned and hit the nearest wall as hard as he could, giving it quite the dent. Akamaru came back out, barking sadly.

"Yeah, I know buddy; I messed up big time…still, there's got to be a way to make it up to her…"

A few blocks away, Naruto was slowing down, seeing that Kiba wasn't following her. Now she was really confused. She needed to talk with someone, someone who would understand. Anko? No, she was crazy, and she'd only ever had Iruka as a boyfriend. Jii-san? No, he _was_ a boy…Sakura liked Sasuke, so she was out. But what about Hinata? Yeah, she seemed to understand people really well, maybe she could-

"Stop." Naruto halted as the very girl she'd been thinking about stepped out, hand held in front of her, a determined look on her face.

"Oh, Hinata! Just who I-"

"No, not now." Naruto looked at her confused. Unbeknownst to her, Hinata had been close by when she'd heard the raised voices and she'd turned on her byakugan, recognizing her teammate and crushes voice. Naruto and Kiba had come into view just as Kiba kissed Naruto, and she saw Naruto kiss him back before she turned off her byakugan and began to cry. Why did her only friend have to go and kiss the boy she liked? Why did he have to like Naruto instead of her?

Sitting there clutching her knees as she cried, she had stopped, jerking her head up suddenly, realizing the main difference between her and Naruto. Naruto was confident and full of energy, while Hinata was quiet and timid. If she was going to stand a chance at winning him away from Naruto, she had to become confident…even if it meant not being friends with the one person who had always assured her of herself. She had to learn to stand strong without Naruto, if only to prove that she could. This was what she had to do to get his heart. She stood, activating her byakugan again, spotting Naruto just down the road, and moving to do what she felt she must before she wavered. She had to become strong and confident, just like Naruto, if Kiba was going to fall in love with her.

So now, there she stood, looking at the surprised Naruto, her old time friend, the one who always stood by her. She almost faltered, but then she straightened, and she spoke.

"Naruto, we are now rivals! I, I will become strong on my own, and I will win him from you!" She turned and ran away after that, fighting back her tears, not even turning around to see Naruto's own eyes slowly filling with tears at the loss of her first friend.

"Hinata…" _Why now….?_

.

.

.

The rest of the day, Naruto was in slump. She hardly ate her food at dinner, shrugging off Sarutobi's concerns about her, and almost ignoring Konohamaru completely when he asked her to play ninja with him and his friends Moegi and Udon. Instead she told him that she'd play with them that weekend.

The next day didn't see much improvement, and Kakashi almost ordered her to go the hospital when she slipped up the third time on her spare against Sakura. Even the pinkette was worried about her.

"The dobe probably just didn't get enough sleep," Sasuke said, acting as though he didn't care. Inwardly he was in a state of near panic. However, he couldn't act any differently for now, not until they figured out a way to break the news to Sakura. "How about I take her home to rest and you two keep practicing. I need to get food today anyways, so I'll pick up my groceries and train at home." Kakashi looked at him for a moment then nodded.

"Sure, that's fine. I had some things I wanted to work on with Sakura specifically anyways," he said. _Though to be honest, I have a feeling that you have something to do with Naruto's sloppiness today. Talking with you alone may be just what she needs._

Naruto tried to protest, but Kakashi insisted, and with as little energy as Naruto was putting out today, it wasn't hard to win the debate. Soon, Naruto and Sasuke were walking down the path back to the village. The blonde refused to look at him, even as he slouched next to her side, concern finally showing in his eyes.

"If you don't tell me, then I'm going to have to ask Hokage-sama," he said finally. Naruto didn't respond. "If you got beat by your brother I promise I won't tell." Ah, that had made her mouth twitch. "Honestly though, I think a broken down snail could beat you…"

"What! How dare you, you arrogant little-" The girl broke off as she saw the amused, and slightly relieved, grin on his face and she started laughing.

"Hahahah! Okay, you have admit, that _was_ a little below the belt," she said. He shrugged, putting an arm around her and giving her a small hug.

"It was worth it to see you act like normal for the first time today. What's going on, Naruto-chan, for real? You can tell me!" Naruto looked away, not even feeling like she should let him hold her like he was.

"I, I…" she looked away, though they continued walking and she didn't pull out of his embrace. She wanted to enjoy his company for a few more seconds before he pulled away on his own. She took a deep breath. "I kissed Kiba yesterday." Sasuke stopped walking, and she with him, but his arm stayed around her.

"Okay," he said, though in a low voice. She turned to look at him.

"What, that's it? I'm dating _you_ and kissed _him_, and you aren't even angry?" She crossed her arms and stepped away. "Well, if that's how little you care, then I don't care either!" Sasuke face palmed himself and reached for her arm, grasping it lightly.

"Naruto-chan, it's not that I don't care," he said, voice still soft and low. "At the moment I want nothing more than to go out and rip that dog breathed idiot apart for kissing my girl." He sighed. "I assumed that _he_ made the move to kiss you, so I was waiting for you to finish the whole story before choosing to be mad at you." Naruto, who had been refusing to look at him the whole time, choosing to look down instead, slowly turned her face towards him, eyes slightly watery.

"Well, yes, he was the one that kissed me, but I kissed him back! Oh Sasuke, I, I was so surprised, and it felt so nice, but I shouldn't have done it! I, I'm so sorry I, I-" She stopped talking as Sasuke held her in his arms.

"It's okay," he said, feeling very awkward. Naruto had definitely been forcing him out of his emotionless shell, but especially in comforting others he felt awkward. "We're still kids," he said, "still learning about the world. I know that I really like you, and that you really like me, but…" _man, I'm starting to sound like I'm talking from a soap opera!_ "Naruto-chan, I think I'd die if you dumped me, but I'd live in hell if I knew that you weren't happy because I made you stay with me. Choose your own way; I hope it's me, but if you decide you like Kiba…Ow!" Sasuke rubbed his arm as Naruto hugged him.

"You baka, of course I'm staying with you. After all, you still have to stop being such an emo before I move on." She looked up at him, smiling.

_Hn, dobe. _

"Fine; I'll just stay 'emo' then, and you'll never get to move on." She laughed.

"As if; Naruto Uzumaki never goes back on her word! I'll make a normal person out of you yet Uchiha!"

The two of them continued to walk on back to the village, holding hands. Neither of them noticed Sakura, standing a ways off behind a tree, slumped down and crying.

_It figures,_ she said. _Even Naruto's prettier than me. Me and my stupid big forehead…_ She stayed there, crying for hours as she clutched her knees, realizing that the boy of her dreams was taken by the girl she had thought had become her best friend.

.

.

.

The rest of the week had team seven wondering why Sakura was so down. She had stopped yelling as much, and a lot of them time her smiles were kind of sad. At the same time, unlike Naruto's slump, Sakura's had her training harder. Naruto tried to corner her one evening while she was shopping to get her to tell her what was going on. She even canceled her date with Sasuke because she was worried about her friend, and after losing Hinata over Sasuke, she didn't want to lose Sakura too.

"alright," she said, standing in Sakura's path, "spill it; what's going on?" Sakura laughed bitterly.

"Heh, as if you'd care. You're just my teammate anyways. You don't care about me." Naruto's heart broke, and she lost the confidence in her stance immediately. It shocked Sakura how quickly she slumped over. It was like the sun had gone out. Why did she do that?

"No, not you too," she mumbled. Sakura stepped forward cautiously.

"Naruto? What are you talking about?" Naruto looked up, facing her teammate.

"It, it's nothing, I just… I have to go," she said, turning quickly. Now it was Sakura's heart that broke. She had gotten to know Naruto well enough that she knew Naruto was being deeply troubled. It was like that one day earlier that week when she'd actually beaten her…the day Sakura had figured out that Sasuke was taken…

"Naruto…chan, what's wrong." Naruto stopped as Sakura grabbed her arm, but still refused to look at her.

I keep making friends, but even though I want to _be_ their friend, they keep not wanting to be mine any more." She turned around. "I though Hinata and I would always be friends, but now, for a boy, she doesn't want to be friends any more. She was my best friend! And know you…who's next…" Sakura put down her bags she'd been carrying and enveloped her teammate in a hug. _I lost Ino like that too, _she thought. _That was horrible, but at least I had other friends. Sensei told us about Naruto. She _doesn't_ have other friends. I have to push it down. _ She looked at her blond teammate who was trying not to cry. _After all, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't stick with her? Besides, there are other boys…_

"I'm sorry, Naruto," she said. "I just, well, I can't tell you," she said. "But something happened, and I was actually feeling like you were with Hinata, but that was unfair to you. I'm still your friend, Naruto-chan, so don't worry about it." Then Naruto _did_ cry, happy that she hadn't lost a friend. Of course, she made Sakura swear never to tell that she'd cried like that. Sakura laughed, promising, and they walked back to the Haruno home, Naruto helping Sakura carry her bags.

Her mom gave her one of _those_ looks, but ended up very confused when her daughter, whom she had warn countless times about how dangerous that Uzumaki girl was, gave that same girl a good solid hug. In the end, they nodded politely to the blond and were left with much to think about as Sakura told them all about how nice Naruto was and what a great teammate she was being. _I'm going to do what I can to help her have friends forever, _she thought. _And that means sharing what a good person she is_.

.

.

.

The very next day came with a big surprise for all three of the members of team 7. Kakashi showed up only an hour late. Naruto kept staring at her watch, then at her sensei, back at her watch and her sensei again. She looked over at Sakura.

"is someone using a bushin to play a trick on us." Kakashi face faulted, almost breaking his nose as he fell from the arch. _Wow, I must be worse than I thought if an hour seems unbelievable to them._ He quickly stood up.

"No no, not a bushin. I just happened to have some interesting news for you today…"

"Really? What is it sensei, what, what, what!"

"calm down Naruto, calm down. It would be nice if you could put some of that energy into Sasuke over there, though." Naruto blushed and calmed down quickly. Sasuke blushed slightly while Sakura suddenly discovered a knot in her hair. _Ah…it would seem I've hit the nail on the head… and Sakura knows too…no wonder she's been depressed. And yet, she and Naruto seem to be closer than ever today. Hm…_

"well, anyways, I've decided to enter you into the chuunin exams," he said, holding up their sign up forms.

"What? The chuunin exams." Sasuke and Sakura rolled their eyes as Kakashi prepared to explain before Anko, walking by the bridge with Iruka (who looked slightly miffed) yelled out, "Banana, Naruto, it's like a banana!" The whole of team 7 face faulted…except Naruto who's eyes lit up.

"Oh yeah! It's the next rank of shinobi, the chuunin exams, held every six months!" She got an excited look on her face and stars in her eyes as her team looked at her in shock…Iruka as well. _How does a banana relate to this at all!_ Iruka looked at his girl friend, his frustration with Kakashi and the other rookie sensei's temporarily forgotten.

"What?" She waved a hand as they continued walking further away, Anko still working to calm his frustrations.

"Trust me, it won't make sense. Only _Naruto_ would get the explanation. I didn't even get it when I _said_ it; it just happened to work and that was what mattered." Iruka shook his head.

"That only reinforces…"

"Well, um, yes, Naruto," Kakashi said, still confused as to what a banana had to do with the chuunin exams. "That's right; the chuunin exams are the next step for you to continue your shinobi career." He held out the applications to each of them. "Here you go. I was going to wait till next week but…" he shivered as he thought about Anko back in the meeting. She'd made sure to…_impress_ it on him that Naruto should get the application post haste so that she could start her training. "Well, anyways, here you go. Seven days from now you'll need to turn those in at the academy, room 301 at 4 pm. The exams will start there."

"Alright, yeah! Thanks Kakashi sensei!" Kakashi flinched as Naruto launched in to give him a hug. _Well, this is a little awkward_, he thought. _I'm not really a hugs person…_ he sighed.

"No problem, Naruto. All three of you have improved a lot, so there wasn't any second thoughts when I nominated you guys for the exam." He noticed Sakura's look of surprise when he said that last bit. All of them knew that Sakura was the weakest of the three, but she tended not to let that bother her, and neither of her teammates really brought it up. Naruto even went out of her way to compliment Sakura on how much she was improving. He eye smiled.

"Well, for the rest of the week you can take a break from missions if you want and just train for the exams. Though if you _do_ want to do missions, well, Naruto lives with the Hokage so I'm sure you all can find me, if you really need to. See you later." With that he sushined away and the three talked for a moment about the coming exams.

"Well, I'm going to train every day," Naruto proclaimed, puffing out her chest. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Dobe, if you train every day you'll be tired on the day the exam finally starts." Sakura laughed.

"Hah, with the energy Naruto has, it probably wouldn't matter." Naruto grinned.

"Yup yup, and Sakura-chan's going to be great, too! After all, she's smarter than anyone else!" Sakura smiled at the compliment. _Maybe, maybe I can do this after all…_ Soon Sasuke left to go train at the Uchiha compound, leaving Naruto and Sakura to go grab some extra supplies for the exam. Of course, it was then that Naruto noticed the square 'rock' following them. She rolled her eyes, then jumped backwards, pointing at the rock.

"Hah , what a lame disguise! Rocks aren't square!" There was a poof, and through the smoke a young voice came out.

"Just what I'd expect from my rival and sister!" Sakura quirked an eyebrow in confusion as the smoke cleared, revealing Konohamura and his two friends Moegi and Udon.

"Konohamaru, what are you doing anyways?" The boy with the blue scarf around his neck smiled.

"Well, are you free right now sis?" Naruto smirked, pointing at herself and acting impressive.

"Nah, not today. I've gotta get ready to face the chuunin exams!"

"What? But you promised you'd play ninja with us today!" Naruto balked. _Aw crap…I did say that. But,_ she looked over at Sakura who was trying decide whether or not to laugh at the crazyness of a ninja _playing_ ninja. _But we need to get supplies…_ It was then that Konohamaru noticed the other girl. He leaned forward, whispering very loudly.

"Hey, sis, who's the ugly girl you're hanging out with? Are you helping her get a boyfriend 'cause she's too ugly to find one on her own?" Naruto froze, feeling the killer intent. Sure enough, as she looked over her shoulder she could see Sakura cracking her knuckles, scary look on her face.

"Run away!" And run they did, for several minutes until Konohamaru came into a rather unpleasant stop.

"Ow; hey that hurt you little runt!" He was stopped by an older boy wearing all black clothes, including a hood with would looked like pointy dog eyes, a mummy wrapped package on his back, and purple war paint. Standing next to him was a blond girl carrying a large fan and wearing an odd purple dress with mesh underneath. They both had headbands from another village, Suna. The boy picked up Konohamaru by the scruff of his neck.

"Hey, let go of my bro you fat lard," Naruto yelled as they all looked on in surprise that the guy could be so mean to a kid. In reply to Naruto's comment, he shrugged, looking over at her even as the girl next to him told him to stop messing around.

"Nah, I think I'll play a little before sensei get's here…"

"Why you," Naruto growled as she charged him. He twitched his hand, smirking, and Naruto slipped and fell.

"Phah, leaf genin are so weak," he said, turning back to look at the boy in his hand. Naruto jumped back up, yelling and pointing at him.

"Hey if you don't let my bro down right now I'm make you pay, you fat idiot." Again the boy simply brushed her off, which made her even more annoyed.

"You're so annoying, and you know what? I hate midgets, especially the young, rude ones. Makes me want to kill them." His teammate rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, I'm involved," she said.

"Heh; after I'm done with this one, maybe I'll take care of that blond brat!" He moved to hit Konohamaru in the face, but he dropped him suddenly as a rock hit his hand.

"OW!"

"Hey, why don't you stop picking on kids," Sasuke said, sitting coolly in a tree. _Thank goodness_, Naruto and Sakura both thought. _After that strange trick where he tripped me, I wasn't sure what to do. _How_ did he do that anyways?_ "So, what are you guys doing in our village anyways?"

"hey, I don't have to answer to a brat like you," the boy in black said, though his female companion mentally noted that the boy was pretty cute. "You're just another short idiot who ticks me off!"

"Pft, whatever. Get lost, looser." The Suna genin growled, pulling the wrapped _thing_ off of his back, placing his hand on the top, which seemed to be a mass of dark brown hair.

"Alright, how about you get down here!"

"Stop it, Kankurō," a low gravely voice said. "You're an embarrassment to the village." Sasuke wheeled his head around to see a red headed boy, about their age, hanging upside down from another tree limb. He was wearing a gourd on his back that seemed to be held in place by a large brown strap that came over his left shoulder and down to his right hip, with another smaller strap going over his right shoulder as well. He also had a long white cloth wrapped around him, from right shoulder to left hid, and black tee and pants, mesh showing through underneath. His eyes looked almost like a raccoons with the heavy dark lines and no eyebrows, and he had the kanji, 'love', on his forehead. The look on his face was anything but, and it was obvious that the two older sand genin deferred to him.

"But, but they started it! I was just-"

"Save it. We may have gotten here early, but this is not the way to use our time, so just shut up or I'll kill you." The boy, Kankurō, gulped and proceed to earnestly apologize. Meanwhile, the sand swirled around the other boy, and he disappeared for a moment only to reappear in another swirl of sand on the ground next to his teammates.

"Sorry about that," he said, though by his tone one could tell he didn't really care, and the concentration in his eyes as he looked at Sasuke showed that he was measuring him up, estimating his skills. After a moment of silence, he turned, arms folded uncaringly. "It's time to stop fooling around. Let's go."

"Wait! Why are you here? Is it for the chuunin exams?" Temari chuckled, pulling out a small card.

"Of course," she said, flashing the card which turned out to be a pass for entrance to the exams. "We wouldn't have been able to get through the front gate otherwise you silly girl." Sakura huffed at the affront as Sasuke jumped down to stand next to his teammates.

"What's your name," he asked. The girl immediately perked up, a slight blush that reminded Sasuke of his fan girls spreading across her cheeks.

"Oh, you mean me? It's Temari-"

"No not you, him," he said, pointing to the red head. The boy finally turned around, his posture still completely relaxed and bored.

"I am called Gaara of the desert," he said, "and I would like your name as well." Sasuke smirked. It was about then that Naruto, who had been checking on Konohamaru to make sure he was alright, tuned back into the conversation.

"I am Uchiha Sasuke," he said. For the first time, Gaara grinned.

"Hmmm…this will be fun, Uchiha. I look forward to…_competing_ with you in the exams." He began to turn again, ignoring Temari's disappointment that the cute boy didn't care about her.

"Hey, hey! What about my name," Naruto yelled, looking forward to a chance to brag, especially since that guy in the black clown suit had embarresed her infront of her brother. Gaara and the others kept walking.

"Not interested; it's obvious that only the Uchiha is worth my time," Garra said as he continued moving.

"Yeah, well, my name's Naruto," she yelled after them, not wanting to be overshadowed by her boyfriends reputation. "And you're gonna want to remember it!" Of course, she didn't expect them to freeze. The taller two looked back at her with shock on their faces, but the short red head, Gaara, he was just staring at her in a rather odd fashion. It was something between amusement and fascination.

"N, N, Naruto, did you say," the girl, Temari, asked.

"Yeah, it's Naruto, and I'm gonna be the next Hokage, so I'm gonna be the one you'll have to worry about in the exams, believe it!" Temari and Kankurō looked at each other, jaws dropped as memories flooded their minds. It couldn't be!

"Well, hey, come on Garra, we need to meet Baki sensei, remember? We'll…we'll talk about this later," Temari said, whispering the last part, tugging slightly on her brother's sleeve.

"Hnnn," he grunted, turning to follow her. _Naruto…perhaps I wasn't dreaming that all up after all_, he thought. _I need to find out for sure; if it _is_ her…well, if it is her, I have a promise to keep…_

* * *

**So, that's how it is. The next couple of chapters or so will delve back into the history of the sand sibs, picking up where we left with them as they traveled back to Suna right before the Kyuubi attack on Konoha. Feel free to go back and review those chapters if you feel the need. With this in mind, I also want to get ya'll opinion on something. In the past I've had several shorter chapters, mostly about 5k words or less. Putting up longer chapters tends to add a week to the update time, even though I've had them twice as long as a normal chapter. So, in interest of update time vs chapter length, I'm putting up a poll to get ya'll opinion on whether i should do shorter chapters with one week less wait, or add a week and do longer chapter. It's up to you!**

**Just vague curiosity, what did you think about the drama? Note that Naruto, being Naruto, wouldn't even realize that Hinata might have seen what just happened with Kiba as that was very new to her and she doesn't feel that she's competing for anyones attention besides Sasuke's. More will be coming in future chapters, of course, on that, all to be resolved by the end of the story. And don't assume that Hinata might not find someone else. It happens all the time. As i said, don't give up hopes on any pairings, all possibilities are still possible...within reason, of course.**

**Well, thanks for reading, I hope ya'll enjoyed! Take care and don't forget to review real fast!**


	13. What is Pain?

**Oh my GOSH that took so long! Excuses? Well, I had three REALLY hard classes (including an online art class i dropped). The two i still have are considered across the country to be the hardest in their respective departments. Yay me. Because of that, I have had little time to write. Fortunatly, i DO have a significant portion of the next two chapters written already as I was working on them all at the same time.**

**Regardless, I apologize to those of you that i promised an update to last week...I was a bit off. I got a sudden dump of work from said classes. Tax calss is hard, too, even if it's not one of my hardest two classes. **

**All that aside, here it is! The first of the sand sib chapters! I was going to take this chapter further, but as i was catching it up to some of the other things i wrote, i decided that this was a better stopping point, even if it shortened the chapter. On the bright side, there will be an extra sand sib chapter before getting back to Konoha!**

**Also, on my poll, it looks like people want longer chapter even if it takes longer, and I will try to go with it, but I can't promise since I choose to do some shorter chapter (like this one) to keep the story updated more often despite my schedule.**

**Alight, time to ****RR&E! Read review and enjoy**

**disclaimer- don't own Naruto, just having fun and practicing my writing for future personal endeavors.**

* * *

Temari and Kankurō promised to never speak of their mother again, and they took turns watching Gaara at night. It wasn't long before they realized that he would never do his eye thing again…at least, not for a long time.

They _did_ manage to see their sister once more, when Temari spoke softly to Gaara the night they arrived home. All the attendants had immediately dissipated and gone to bed, so in the dark of the night, the three siblings gathered together, urging Gaara to show them their sister, and a view came up showing the small blond girl, lying peacefully in a cradle, but now there were six whisker looking marks on her cheeks. There was no one else in the room with her, but Temari could tell that there had been something horrible that had happened; the room looked half destroyed. Was Naruto okay? She didn't get to find out because Kankurō heard someone coming and they had to make Gaara stop. It was the last time they would successfully use the sand eye technique to watch over her, and so they assumed her dead.

It was Temari who was watching him then. Gaara was lying down, resting, when he put his hand to his eye. The sand rose into the air, like it always had before, but there was no image being shown, as if there was nothing to find. Gaara made an annoyed sound, and the sand began to swirl, but again, there was no image. He began to cry in frustration, wanting to see his mom and little sister, but all that happened, in the end, was vague glimpses of trees, houses, and people, though never enough to see clearly. The sand fell as Gaara began to wail and Temari rushed over, trying to calm him. His sand hit it, rotating quickly around his body, almost like a dust devil.

"Gaara! Stop it! Momma's gone, she'd not coming back! Stop it now!" Gaara only wailed louder, the sand beginning to attack the things around him, destroying furniture and toys alike. "Gaara!" Temari tried to get close to her brother, but even she was not spared to destruction of the room. She was hit into a wall and went unconscious.

She awoke sometime later, head spinning and in pain, and she felt like vomiting. The light hurt her eyes, so she squinted as her eyelids slowly opened. She squeezed them tight again, waited, then opened first one eye, then the next. She was becoming accustomed to the light again, thought at first it was all a big blur. She tried to sit up, almost gagging in the process.

"Temari! Sis, I was so worried."

"Kankurō? What's going on? Where am I?" She could feel the hesitation, and the concern, in her brother's voice.

"Well, there was a lot of screaming, but, but I think Gaara was mad…he destroyed his bedroom," he told her. Her sight was clearing now, and she could see that she was in the infirmary…as Kankurō proceeded to tell her next.

"A bunch of people ran up when they heard everything breaking, and they found you up against the wall." She shuddered. "They took you here when they saw your head…it was…" He shuddered, and she actually ventured to slowly sit up, mostly using her arms. There was another wave of nausea, but she fought it down as she took up more of a reclining position than a laying one, and reached up to touch her head. It was covered in bandages, and she could feel a small depression that made her tear up and almost scream in pain when she touched it, even lightly. Kankurō shuffled his feet.

"Oba san said that it would heal, not even a scar," he said. "But...what happened," he whispered, looking around to make sure no one was near. Temari felt a small tear.

"It, it wasn't his fault. He's a baby, he couldn't understand."

"Understand what?"

"That momma's gone, and he can't see her anymore and…" She bit her lip. "And I think Naruto's gone, too," she whispered. Kankurō stared at her.

"What do you mean sis is gone?" Temari looked down.

"When, when we looked at Naruto the other day, the last time, remember? The room she was in was half destroyed, and there was no one there, right? Well, today, when Gaara was looking for them, the sand wouldn't focus… I think that wherever she was, was destroyed." Kankurō clenched his fists.

"Darn it; darn it!"

"Shhh!" Temari told him, looking around to make sure no one was paying them any attention. "Shh, not so loud."

"I'm sorry, but I, but I wanted to, to find her and to, to be a good brother…"

"Yeah, I know," she said. "But, we can't now; now we can only try and help Gaara. Mom would want us to…"

.

.

.

The Kazekage was looking at the bodies of those that had tried to get too close to his son. He smiled. He didn't know what had brought it on, but his son had been…_beautiful_. He really _was_ a weapon after all. All that mollycoddling hadn't destroyed his plan. True, he may now only have one jinchuuriki, but this one was_ powerful_, and if trained him right, he could rule to world. He smiled again, little sanity showing in his features. The man was surely mad.

.

.

.

Soon after, it was only family that was brave enough to tend to young Gaara. The Kazekage was constantly hinting at his son's power, and the danger he could be to their enemies once they trained him right…but most were too afraid to approach him having heard of the destruction of the nursery, and Temari's head wound.

It wasn't long after that incident that Yashamaru was ordered to take a break from his hospital duties to take care of Gaara. Temari and Kankurō were going to start having tutors to prepare them for the academy. The reason for this was because the Kazekage had seen that they were still willingly to be around the boy, though they always looked apprehensive, so he interpreted it as bravery. He felt pleasantly surprised that all his children seemed to show more promise than he had anticipated. Perhaps destiny was being kinder to him after all.

Besides, if his wife had remained alive someone, like Yashamaru, might have discovered that she had survived, especially with the appearance of his fourth child. Only a few had been privileged to know that she had indeed _not_ died with Gaara's birth. His fourth child was a well kept secret. It was too bad that all that effort appeared wasted. Still, everyone had their used.

Yashamaru, for his part, saw his sister's face in Gaara, and it pained him to look at him, but he forced himself to push those thoughts down. Soon, he repressed them enough that he forgot his resentment of the child he believed caused his sister's death. He tried to show the boy kindness, patiently taking his time to calm the boy, ignoring the occasional sting of the sand that would lightly hit him when Gaara was upset. At first it was fairly frequent that this happened, but it wasn't too long before Gaara became familiar with his presence and began to identify him almost as a maternal figure. This person _did_ look so much like his mother, after all.

Meanwhile, Gaara's siblings were kept away from him as often as possible. The Kazekage said that it was to keep them safe, but with such an incident occurring, he had decided that keeping them from each other would be the best way to make sure that they kept a negative opinion of their youngest brother. He was disgusted that the two of them seemed close, and if that spread over to Gaara, that would destroy his usefulness as the weapon he was needed to be. Temari, being the smart girl she was, eventually figured this out, while she was doodling after finishing an assignment from her private tutor earlier.

_So, is tou-san wants to keep us away, and we make it look like we _are_ staying away, that we don't like Gaara…maybe I can at least watch over him. Kaa-san wanted us to look after Naruto, if we ever saw her, so since she's gone, I think she'd want us to look after Gaara, instead._ She bit the end of her pencil in thought.

_But tou-san always has people watching us, though perhaps he'll lay off if we do that acting really well. Maybe he'll stop watching, if he thinks we _hate_ Gaara…_

It was then that he tutor returned, looking over her work and scowling at her doodles.

"Lady Temari, if you have time to doodle, you have time to work harder. I will not have the Kazekage's daughter wasting her time and talent." She pretended to listen to the lecture, ignoring most of it as she thought of what to tell Kankurō. She knew that it wouldn't be as hard for him. He was showing that he was plenty brave, but being hit by Gaara's sand as much as he had made him wary, and he was younger than and not as smart as her. Still, she knew that he really did care about their brother. Their time with him had made his fear go down, and he was almost protective of him, but he didn't show it so well.

Later that night, she snuck into Kankurō's room to tell him what she thought was going on. He didn't like being woken up (but then again, what four year old does?) but he agreed with her and promised he'd start acting, but tomorrow when he was awake.

So it was that Gaara had only Yashamaru to look after him, or so it seemed. The Kazekage fell for the act, and the two sand siblings began to keep watch over Gaara at a distance, never showing their care for their younger brother. The small boy came to miss the other two that had been with him so much. They felt…familiar. Of course, that was about the extent that the young mind of Gaara could conceive. Over the next couple of years, he began to walk and speak, and he began to think, as well.

_Why does everyone avoid me_, he wondered. _Why is there more sand on me than uncle or tou-san? And brother and sister don't seem to like me much either?_

However, the thing he thought about most was a vague memory that he wasn't even sure was real. It was of his mother, holding a little blond baby girl. He knew it wasn't Temari. She might be a little blond, but nowhere _close_ to this other girl. Besides, she was too much older than him. He thought that Temari had been with him, though, and Kankurō, too. And there was a promise…to protect his _sister_… Yes, to protect that little girl who was his sister. But how could he have a sister? His mother had died when he was born, hadn't she? That's what everyone told him. Well, that is, anyone who would talk to him, which really only left Yashamaru. It seemed to hurt whenever he talked about his mother to him, though, so he tried not to bring it up.

That was the other thing he thought about. Hurt and pain. He never seemed to feel it. He'd heard some of the shinobi talk about getting hurt, or the pain from a stubbed toe, but he never hurt…ever.

"Yashamaru? Why does everyone else get hurt, but not me?" He was sitting in the hospital, his short legs dangling over the edge of the bed, kicking back and forth. His father had told him to go away, to go to Yashamaru. He didn't think his dad liked him much.

Yashamaru looked up from the papers he was working on, thoughtful as he considered Gaara's question.

"You've _never_ felt pain?" Gaara shook his head.

"MMmm. No. Why? Is it bad?" Maybe that was why people didn't like him. The adults always moved away from him when he walked by, and they told their children not to play with him.

"Well, it looks like your sand is more special than I thought," he said, continuing to explain when Gaara looked at him in confusion. "Gaara, if you jumped down from there, what would happen?" Gaara smiled.

"My sand catches me!" His uncle nodded.

"Yes, exactly. When I was your age, I had to catch myself. I didn't have sand to protect me, so sometimes I'd slip, and I'd get hurt. Your sand, it protects you from being hurt."

"Oooohh." He thought for another moment, his uncle waiting patiently for the next question.

"Uncle Yashamaru…is it bad to not feel pain?" This question made the man blink in surprise.

"Bad? I don't think so…Certainly most people would like to live without pain, but I've never thought about it before."

"It's just, I look like everyone else, but I don't sleep, and I don't feel pain. Is that why people don't like me?" There was a cloud cast over his uncle's eyes and he looked back down at his papers.

"I'll tell you later, Gaara."

"Okay!" Gaara grabbed his stuffed bear and jumped down from the hospital bed, his sand catching him as always and he started playing with his bear. Unnoticed by either of them, Temari slowly closed the door she had opened. A tear fell. _Gaara…I like you…_ She walked away, frustrated that she couldn't show her brother that she cared for him openly. At least she'd been able to get him that bear last month, but he needed a real friend. Why did father keep everyone away from him so much? Was it so bad, for him to have friends?

.

.

.

Over time, Gaara's mind continued to develop. Here there was no law to keep people from talking about the 'demon Gaara', so he realized what was inside him, and what made the sand move. He had cried all night when he'd found it out. The fact that there was always the sand around him, that he never slept and the he couldn't hurt…it just reinforced what people thought about it. He began to resent the fact that he couldn't hurt, and he found himself trying to find ways to learn what pain was by hurting himself. His sand, however, always seemed to keep him from this.

At first he just tried to punch something. He'd seen his dad do it once, and then he kept yelling 'ow' over and over and yelled for Gaara to leave him alone. When _he _tried it, though, the sand moved with his arm, almost as if it sensed his intention, and cushioned the blow before his hand even reached the wall. In the end, he learned nothing and put a hole in the wall. His father had patted him on the head later that day, but everyone else just avoided him more. He tried to be more subtle after that.

He took to trying _not_ to be careless. If he made it a habit, maybe his sand would forget and he could stub his toe like other people, or fall and cut his lip like Kankurō did when he came home from his first day at the shinobi academy. That still wasn't working, so he tried, one time, to cut himself with one of Yashamaru's scalpels, but that had lead to something surprising.

He'd been holding it above his hand, placed on the floor, when he heard a scream, and then felt the medical tool get knocked out of his hand. He'd looked up in surprise to see Temari staring at him with a mix of what he thought was fear and anger.

"Gaara! Don't you DARE try to do that again!" That she was talking to him was odd enough…but did she actually want him to not be hurt? And why?

"Te-Temari-chan. I, I just, I want to know-" She cut him off.

"I don't care what you were trying to do, it would have hurt you, and you _better_ not go trying to hurt yourself! Mom wouldn't like it and neither-" She cringed as she cut herself off. "The point is hurting yourself is bad, so don't do it!"

"But, but I want to know what it feels like…" Temari looked at him odd.

"What?"

"My sand, it stops me. I, I don't know what pain is, and because of that, everyone hates me…" if he hadn't lowered his head he would have seen Temari reach out a hand to him, and a tear fall down her cheek, but just then she sensed one of her care takers coming. _Right when he needs me…_ She mentally screamed in frustration, but contented herself to a final comment.

"Maybe not physical, but I think you've still felt pain." And she walked out, leaving a thoughtful Gaara.

Over the next few weeks, he wondered at the strange encounter, but because Temari never talked to him, really. She always seemed to avoid him, but now he wondered. And then she said that he'd felt pain, but not physical.

"Yashamaru?"

"Hmmm?"

"Is there more than one kind of pain?" Yashamaru looked up from what he was working on again. He never had patients come in when Gaara was around, but at least that meant he could catch up on his work, and Gaara really was a smart kid. He was thinking that he might start to tutor him about medical things. After all, Karura had always wanted _one_ of her children to become a medic, and Temari, while smart, wasn't heading that direction. Her smarts were more geared towards strategy, anyway, and Kankurō was crafty. That was different than smart. Gaara though…he had the most interesting questions. _Karura, you'd like him._ That train of thought was stopped, along with his smile, as a sudden headache came on.

"Yashamaru?"

"S, sorry Gaara. I, I had a headache. What was it you wanted?"

"A head ache? Your head hurt? But why? I didn't look like it hit anything. Doesn't something have to hit you to make you hurt?" Yashamaru chuckled a little.

"Well, most of the time, yes, but not always. Sometimes, hurts aren't physical. They can be mental, that is, in your head, that is to say your brain, like my headache just now, or they can be emotional, in your heart."

"Do they feel the same?"

"Well…in a way. In all cases they're unpleasant, and you wish it would go away."

"Oh…I think…maybe I _have_ felt pain then." He clutched his chest with one hand a tear began to form. Yashamaru began to reach out to him to provide comfort in the form of hug only to retract his hand and place it on his head as he had another headache.

Gaara continued to contemplate pain. He recognized that it must be the loneliness he felt which caused his pain. He began to wander the village more often. Surely someone else would be kind. Someone his own age had to be as nice as his uncle. He didn't want to be alone…

Time and time again, he would approach kids as they played and try to join then. Time and again they would refuse and run away from him. The first 'incident' didn't help him in his endeavors…

.

.

.

The Kazekage stood in his office, massaging the bridge of his nose in annoyance. It seemed like his son existed to be a bane to him. He did all he could to try and turn him into a weapon, and all the boy did was try and make nice. He had shown promise once, when he had destroyed a wall about a year back. He had been happy that his weapon was developing. It had been the first time since he was a baby that he had _really_ used his powers. And what did he do? He went around trying to make friends with the villagers, and Yashamaru, despite his precautions, seemed to encourage it.

The man growled in annoyance and looked back down at the paper on his desk. Picking it up, he considered again. Was his plan a failure, or did he still have potential. No, Temari and Kankurō, _they_ had potential. This one, he just wanted to be a cuddly little child. Well, that would change now.

He sat down, signed and sealed the paper, and waited for the man he had called for. There would be other chances to forge his weapon.

.

.

.

This day Gaara was walking down by the soccer field. He had decided to try a new approach. He had seen some children just jump into a game that was already in progress when they arrived. If they were bad, they would be kicked out, but the good players would be kept. He was going to try to same thing. He had been practicing, using his sand to emulate opponents. It was crude work, but he was sure that it would pay off today as he joined their game. They would like him so much for being good that they would forget that he was a monster. They would be his friends…

The game started. Gaara stayed hidden behind a pole. He was small enough that, even with his red hair, he didn't stand out much. It was next to an alley anyways. A few minutes into the game, he had identified the better side, and he was ready to jump in and help them win. They would like that. He took a step and then jumped in shock as his sand suddenly surrounded him at various points. He heard a scream of frustration.

"Arg! That stupid sand. Just die!" He turned to see a shinobi leaping at him, ninja to in hand and already swinging.

"No!" Gaara lifted his arms to cover himself instinctively, falling backwards as he went. Another scream rent the air, but this time it was one of pain. As Gaara peeked his eyes open, he saw his sand settling around him, and the bloody body of his attacker spread across the alley and the street around him. His breath came short and his gaze drifted to his surroundings. A few looked on in fear and horror, but others, including the children that would have been his friends, were running away, some screaming.

"No…no! Come back, it was an accident! Please!" But no one came back. Instead, everyone else fled as well. "No!" Gaara broke down crying. In a few minutes his father would receive the report and bang his head in frustration at how that boy continually upsets his plans. In his stubborn anger, he would continue to try and assassinate Gaara, and the boy would fall deeper and deeper into depression as loneliness consumed him. Was there no one besides his uncle who cared? Was there anyone?

* * *

**First off, were there any spelling/grammar mistakes that i missed? I DID go over it, but I've noticed that cut and paste will insert some errors even after you fixed them in word...**

**More importantly, how was the chapter? U like? Sand sibs good? Sorry not too much Kankuro in here, but I always felt that, early on, Temari had more influence on him and Kankuro's influence/closeness increased as they got older (and less crazy on Gaara's part).**

**Oh, and Yashamaru! What do you think? I already instituted some changes from canon on his character. Think you figured it out? Review and tell me what you think it was!**

**That's it for now. Next update will be within a month. I wish i could promise better than that, but I don't want to make false promises and fail to fulfill them. Ya'll take care and wish me luck on my tests this week!**


	14. Epitome of Loneliness

**Okay, sorry this took so long, but this is, of course, an important chapter. Picks up right after where the last chapter left off. Kankuro and Temari will be trying to be a bit more proactive, and another secret of the Kazekage will be revealed here.**

**I hope you all enjoy and maybe even leave me a little review! Have fun!**

**generic disclaimer**

**btw, for Just Subliminal only, since you have the PMing thing deactivated on your profile, i don't suppose I could ask you here to indulge me and let me know who recommended my story, could you? I feel flattered that they did so and want to thank them. **

* * *

Yashamaru found Gaara crying in his work place later that evening. He'd heard about Gaara attacking someone in an ally, but looking at his small figure, all curled up and fragile seeming, he couldn't believe the version of the story he'd heard.

"Gaara? What happened?" To his surprise Gaara did run to hug and cry into him like he was want to do; rather he jumped up and crab walked into a corner.

"St, st, stay away from me," he yelled at Yashamaru, his sand stirring as if to form a protective circle around him, though not rising more than a few inches from the ground. Yashamaru scrunched his eyebrows in though, contemplating what to do next. After a moment of Gaara staring wild eyed at him, he spread his arms out, showing on an instinctive level that he was no threat.

"Gaara, I heard what happened, but I want to hear it from you. I promise, it will be okay, just tell me what happened." Gaara whimpered, covering his face and shaking his head, trying to get rid of the memory of all the blood and the people running away from him.

"I just wanted to play; I just wanted to play…"

"Play what?" There was a pause.

"I practiced really hard; I just wanted to play, to be like them, but that man…" He shuddered as he began to rock back and forth. Yashamaru began taking slow steps towards him.

"What about the man, Gaara? What did he do?"

"He-he tried to hurt me…"

"When?"

"When, when I was waiting to play…I, I was just standing there, in the alley, and then, and then he, from behind…" Gaara started when he felt Yashamaru put a hand on his shoulder.

"No! Stay away!" His sand began pushing at him like blows from a club, but he refused to move.

"It-wasn't- your- fault- Gaara," he said between blows. The blows stopped.

"But, but I, my sand-"

"Protected you. You did nothing wrong," his uncle said soothingly. "And it's alright now." Tears flowed down Gaara's face.

"But everyone, they all saw it, and they ran away…they want me to be alone…" Yashamaru leaned down and gave him a hug that he almost released as another headache came upon him. He fought through it, refusing to let it stop him from comforting his nephew.

"Not everyone wants you to be alone…"

.

.

.

The Kazekage ranted and raved for the better part of an hour. How could such an inept child, so worthless, _still_ be a monkey wrench in his plans? That brat lived to foil him. At every step, he did exactly what he _didn't_ want him to do. When he wanted him to be cold, he sought warmth; when he wanted him to be strong, he was weak; and when he wanted him to die that blasted child lived. No more; no more would he let his plans be continuously foiled. Gaara would die! There was no other course. He had to die for the being the constant frustration that he was. Obviously, though, he needed a stronger shinobi to destroy his son.

Meanwhile Kankurō, who had coming to the office to ask his dad about ninjutsu, closed the door softly. His father had been speaking aloud, and it scared Kankurō to hear those things. He had always tried to ignore the things around him that caused pain, but now he had to stop running. It was time to face it.

Walking aimlessly through the village he finally considered all the things that had happened around Gaara. When they were still little, he remembered being thrown into walls by Gaara's sand, but he knew that baby Gaara couldn't control that. He made a disgusted face as he thought of babies. They were always so noisy. He'd had to help take care of a few babies. Everyone always said they were really cute and fun to play with. Well, they had lied; all Kankurō got out of _that_ experience was set of clothing covered in puke, and broken ear drums- at least it felt like they were broken. He realized that babies had very little control, and no idea how to communicate. Gaara had been just like that, but he was family, too, and ka-san wanted them to protect him.

He hadn't thought about _that_ in years. The night that Temari had snuck into his room to tell him that tou-san wanted Gaara away from them, he had been more than happy to stay away from Gaara. He was scary to him then. It had become a habit to avoid him, though he admitted, grudgingly, that his little red headed brother was a cute kid with the exception of the constant rings around his eyes.

Kankurō shook his head to bring his thoughts back to focus. What was important was that Gaara was now in danger, and he didn't what know to do. He wasn't smart enough, but he _did_ know someone who was…

.

.

.

Temari was busy working with the big fan she'd been given at the academy when she'd inadvertently shown that she could use wind chakra. It was during a lesson on formalities. It made Temari roll her eyes to think about it. She wouldn't say that she was a very conventional person, even at her young age. Yes, like most girls she enjoyed skirts and dresses, but she also enjoyed fighting. She _really_ wanted to be a Kunoichi. As good a one as she could, hence her frustration. It had been building up more and more over the last few weeks, especially after she saw Gaara doing…_that_ the previous week. It unsettled her that her brother wanted to hurt himself so badly, especially since she felt there was little she could do. She didn't want him believing she hated him, but there was still father to deal with.

It was in the midst of such a thought that, while they were practicing opening and waving their fans, she'd let loose a bit of chakra. The results had been devastating to a group of seven and eight year old girls. The two directly to her left had been blown off their feet, kimono's completely askew. The next three had all lost a grip on their fans and the first had lost her headdress. The most telling occurrence, however, as the cracked wooden pillar and beam behind and above her. They had quickly removed the girls from the room before sending for a carpenter and fetching for a chakra specialist. After a paper test it was officially discovered that she possessed wind chakra. Father, of course, commended her for the intensity and ambition he perceived in her and upped her lessons. She was given the fan and several kata's and exercises to practice with at home.

Opening her fan about half way, she gave it a large wave, aiming at tightly packed hill of sand. She ended on one knee with her fan, once again closed, extended behind her. She smirked as the sand was blasted away. She stood up and looked over her shoulder.

"What is it, Kankurō?" The black suited boy rolled his eyes. He'd shown up a few seconds ago but, fearing his sisters wrath at a break in her concentration, decided to sit on an upturned trash can (courtesy of Temari's practicing) and wait for her to acknowledge him.

"You always show off Temari." The girl chuckled.

"It's not showing off if you just plain old happen to be better."

"Yeah whatever," he muttered, waving a hand at her from her seat. He remained silent, causing Temari to frown.

"Kankurō? What is it?" The small boy fought to keep the tears from his eyes. It was hard to speak, now that he was actually going to voice his thoughts that he'd had the whole way there, ever since hearing his father -his _Kazekage_- saying. Temari extended a worried hand, not sure what to do. It was rare to see her tough little brother acting this way. It unnerved her.

"I…overheard Kazekage-sama…a little while ago." She cocked her head in surprise.

"You mean tou-san? What are you talking about? What was he saying?" Kankurō took halted breathes as he relayed to his sister what their father had done, and his plans he had still for their younger brother.

It turned out that he'd overheard a lot. Not only had he talked about Gaara, but also their little sister…not that he know anything about her. Kankurō just managed to figure out what he was talking about. It was a lot for Temari to take in. Not only was her little brother housing a demon, for which their father had decided he was too dangerous to live and now needed to die, but he'd planned on doing the same thing to their sister Naruto! She massaged her temples as Kankurō unfolded the tale, trying to decide what to do next.

"And he said, he said he wasn't going to stop until Gaara's dead! That's, that's just not right! Gaara doesn't deserve that, even if he is scary." Temari couldn't even chuckle at the thought her brother had just stated; the situation was much too heavy for that. Instead, she stood.

"First off, we still have to call him dad even if we don't want him to be." Kankurō looked at her in shock.

"But he-"

"No, if we do that he'll know that we know. We have to act on this one, too. I don't like it either, but it's what we gotta do.

"Next, we need to talk to uncle Yashamaru. _He_ cares about Gaara."

"But what if… _dad_, tried to kill him again." Temari frowned.

"I don't think it'll work…not for a while anyways. You know better than some how his sand it, and dad's _wanted_ him to get strong until now, so he probably never tried to think of how to defeat it. I don't think anyone else has either, so Gaara should be safe for now."

"Okay…if you say so. I still don't want to leave him by himself. I, I want to…"

"Protect him?" Kankurō nodded as Temari put and hand on his shoulder.

"Me too, and that's why we need to talk to Yashamaru first. He'll know best what to do to protect Gaara." Kankurō nodded in agreement and started walking.

"Alright, better get there before he goes home, then. I think the clinic will be best to catch him alone without anyone being able to over hear us." Temari did chuckle then. He'd actually had a good idea!

"Yes, let's go now." When they got there, thought, they saw something that they didn't expect. Little Gaara was beating Yashamaru with his sand, evidently trying to get away from him, while the latter was doing his best to hold on despite the pain.

"No! Stay away!"

"It-wasn't- your- fault- Gaara." Kankurō and Temari watched in awe as Gaara's sand stopped, their uncle breathing heavily as he held onto their younger brother. They saw Gaara break down, crying harder than they ever would have guessed he could. Temari noticed Yashamaru wincing as he hugged Gaara, his temple trembling violently. She tapped her brother on his shoulder, motioning that they should move away.

Several blocks away from the scene they had just witnessed, Temari motioned her confused sibling into a public building and drew him back into a small room in the back. There, she finally sat down after scanning behind them and closing the door.

"Temari, what's going on? I thought we were going to talk to uncle Yashamaru. Shouldn't we at least wait and talk with him later?" Temari shook her head.

"No, I don't think so. Father is doing even more than we thought."

"What?" She pointed to her temple.

"What is my temple doing?" Kankurō shrugged.

"Nothing." Temari glared at him. "Okay okay!" He sighed and took a closer look. He noticed then that there was a slight tremor, like a heart beat…

"Hey, is your heart doing that?"

"Sort of. Remember from academy lessons, the heart pumps blood all over the body? Well, that means that wherever there are blood veins, you can see the beat of the heart. That's _mostly_ what happens, but when someone messes with your head, more blood rushes to your brain, shrinking the space available in your skull and pushing the blood vessels against your skin. There's less room so the 'beats' from your heart become more intense."

"Sounds like it hurts." Temari nodded.

"Yes, it does, and someone, probably dad, is messing with uncles head." Kankurō's eyes widened.

"So…dad's using Yashamaru to…_help_ Gaara? I don't get it. I heard him saying that he'd kill him." Temari shook her head.

"I don't think so; uncle was holding onto Gaara in a nice way, like he really cared and was fighting _against_ whatever the pain was. I _think_ that he likes Gaara, and papa is trying to use him a different way." Kankurō nodded.

"I guess I see that." He looked up at his sister. I guess, since dad's working on him so hard, that we should let him be and watch Gaara ourselves. Like you said, his sand is good, but if something really bad happens, where uncle can't help him 'cause of pa…we need to be there and be ready for him." Temari's eyes widened slightly. She liked the idea…

"How would we do it?" Kankurō's brow furled as he thought.

"Well, we can't be obvious since we know that dad's working on uncle, so we need to takes turns, and we pick times when it's more likely that something will happen. Dad's going to try and kill Gaara without letting people see, like in the alley today. That just didn't work out like he wanted, but he'll try to set up situations like that again.

"What we do, is we spend a little time to see if Gaara does things in a general order, then we arrange to switch who shadows him without getting caught." Temari wanted to laugh. Kankurō was trickier than he let on; or maybe he was just finally in his element.

"Alright, we'll do that, for now; until we can find a way to stop dad altogether." Kankurō nodded, grinning. Maybe he was actually getting something right, and now he could actually act like a big brother.

.

.

.

Eventually Gaara stopped crying, and Yashamaru sat him on one of his examination tables, telling him he could stay until it was time to go home. He didn't want to think about why his brother in law would do such a thing to his youngest son, so he didn't. It seemed so easy to push away those thoughts, to focus on his paper work, nearly forgetting Gaara's presence. He was only reminded when Gaara would give a faint sniffle as he hugged his bear.

For his part, Gaara remained deep in thought, for a five year old. He decided that if the other kids understood that he had been attacked, they'd be okay and still let him play. He knew it would be hard, but uncle Yashamaru believed in him, so why not them? So he kept trying, going to the play grounds and trying to make friends. More often than not, they would run away at the sight of him. Still, some of them seemed to become acquainted to his presence and though they would when he was nearby, any time he tried to get close to them they would run away just like all the others. He spent so much time watching the other children and trying to find a way to interact with them successfully that he never even noticed when Temari or Kankurō would watch over him. Their observations resulted in many midnight conversations.

"He never does anything to them! It's so unfair that they just run at the sight of him."

"Kankurō, you know why they run. Besides, you might run, too, if you hadn't been his brother." The boy gave his sister a death glare.

"I'm not a scardy cat," he said as gruffly as he could (a difficult task for a seven year old). "I wouldn't run away."

"You probably wouldn't let him play, either." Kankurō pursed his lips and folded his arms angrily, looking away.

"Still, he deserves a chance."

"It's probably because of dad trying to kill him, though…"

"Except that they only try when no one's around to see. People forget things fast. I never even hear people talk about the first one anymore, and most don't hear about the new ones. Dad doesn't want them to know how many people die 'cause of Gaara's sand." Temari nodded slowly.

"Maybe…you might be right, but I'm gonna have to see it myself before I decide. I'll figure out why they never let him play."

"Good. You only watch him when he's all alone anyways."

"Hey! It's not my fault that our schedules worked out like that, okay! I want to be there for him just as much as you." Her brother grimaced.

"Sorry sis. I'm just annoyed by the kids."

"I know," Temari said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But it won't be like this forever. Some time, hopefully soon, we'll be strong enough to show in front of everyone that we love Gaara, and that he's not a monster like dad tried to make him."

"Yeah…I hope so…"

.

.

.

It was a few more days before they were able to work things so that Temari, who was still getting private tutoring thanks to her wind chakra, was able to watch over Gaara during his play time. Over all they had had to do little to watch over him. Gaara's sand proved to be more powerful than either of them had really thought. Temari had once cried out in warning before a shinobi came up behind him, but the matter seemed to be dealt with before Gaara even turned around, a tear falling from his eye as he saw another evidence of his father's hate.

Temari had almost come out of hiding to go comfort him, but uncle Yashamaru walked down the road first. Gaara had been headed to see him, so it wasn't so odd an occurrence. It had happened a couple times that Yashamaru would be coming back to the office from a meal or home visit and find Gaara waiting for him. The man reached down and carried Gaara inside, cradling him.

This evening, though, she'd managed to get out of practice when her tutor had gotten sick at the last minute and had no replacement for her. It happened to be a day that Kankurō was at the academy during the afternoon to late evening. He'd told her the other night that they thought he could be a puppeteer so they wanted him to stay late that day and test him. She was happy for him, but it had bothered her that neither of them would be there to watch Gaara…until now. She quickly ran to the route Kankurō said was his usual to get to the park. She caught up to him less than a quarter mile before the park the other children played at.

She sat on a roof, watching Gaara's hopeful look as he waited for a chance, then it came. One of the children kicked the ball so hard that it landed on a high ledge in the sand and rock wall that surrounded their village. The kids began to berate the one who had kicked the ball so, then they all froze in fright. Gaara had quietly walked up and sent his sand to retrieve the ball. Now he held it out, waiting for one of them to take it, to include him. Instead they all ran.

Gaara cried out, the pain of loneliness finally filling him to the point of frustration. Temari gasped as she saw him grab one of the children with his sand, crying about not being alone before he lost control. Even she could tell that what was going to happen next would hurt. At the last second an adult shot between the boy and Gaara's sand.

"Gaara, stop!" It was too late, of course, and Temari saw her uncle get battered by the oncoming sand before Gaara was able to stop it, but stop he did. Temari felt the wetness of her cheeks, and realized she'd been crying. It hurt to actually see her brother like this. She'd seen a couple assassination attempts, she'd seen Gaara trying to hurt himself, but to see how quick the other children were to run away from a boy who had so obviously been trying to be helpful and friendly cut her to the core.

Yashamaru leaned over the hurt boy, telling Gaara that he'd meet him at the hospital where he worked after taking care of the boy. Gaara nodded, crying as he ran off. Temari took off after him, not caring much for the boy that had shunned him so. She arrived first and hid herself in a closet, not wanting to miss what happened next. What would Yashamaru say? Was he going to punish Gaara? Would _he_ turn against her brother, too?

As she watched, Gaara once again tried to inflict pain on himself. Like so many times that night, she had been about to intervene when Yashamaru once again appeared, stopping Gaara, even though, he said, his sand would have protected him. It hurt, he said, to see Gaara trying to hurt himself.

_He _does_ care! For sure, even though dad doesn't. I can feel it in his voice._

She listened to the two of them talk about pain, and then Gaara's new idea for getting a friend after all. He was going to take medicine to the boy to heal him. It would make him feel better. Yashamaru smiled and said it was a wonderful idea and even helped him pack some medicines. Temari stared in shock at the ones he picked. They were some of the best Suna had. Yashamaru was going all out to help Gaara stop feeling alone.

When Gaara left, have been given directions from Yashamaru who had taken the injured boy home, she cursed herself for not picking a better spot to sneak out from until her father came in and asked to speak to her uncle in his office. She snuck out then, pausing at the main door. She felt like she was missing something important, but what was more important than Gaara?

.

.

.

"Go away, you monster," the boy muttered, shutting the door firmly. Gaara began to tear up, the ointments he had so carefully prepared with Yashamaru falling as though his fingers were lifeless, and he ran. He ran as hard as he could, fleeing all the loneliness inside him.

Meanwhile, a slightly older blonde girl jumped to the ground, fuming, and she rammed her hand on the door, causing it to shake with the force of her knocking.

"Go away, you stupid beast," the young boy said again.

"You better watch your mouth, you brat!" The door quickly opened, a different kind of fear now on the boys face.

"L, L, Lady Temari! Wha, what are you doing here?" She glared at him as she gave him a piece of her mind.

"You little piece of crap! Do you have any idea what you just did? My brother just wants a friend, and he actually felt _sorry_ for hurting you, and what did you do! You threw it in his face! These are expensive," she yelled, shaking the medicine bag in his face. "You know that? It wasn't easy for him to come here and YOU called him a MONSTER!"

"But, but-" the boy spluttered, trying to find a way to appease the girl.

"B_ut_ nothing," she yelled at him. "You have no excuse. Phe," she said, finally speaking normally, though her look was still threatening, and condescending, as she crossed her arms to look at him. "You called _him_ a monster? Only a monster turns away a little boy trying so hard to be so nice. See if I ever watch your back when we become shinobi." With that, she turned away, not able to lay down a more grave threat since she wasn't supposed to even be _around_ Gaara, much less _care_ for him. She shook her head. She'd risked a lot tonight, but she decided that she needed to risk it one more time. She was going to talk to her uncle. It was high time they gave him their trust. She took to the rooftops to find the quickest way back to his clinic where he had been with Gaara when she saw the first explosion. Her eyes widened with fear, and she took off with only one thought in mind. _Gaara…_

.

.

.

Kankurō was just coming back from the academy. He was already starting to enjoy working with puppets, and the teachers said he showed great promise and aptitude with them. Today they'd actually given him a puppet to take home and practice with. He never expected to see Gaara running down the road, tears in his eyes.

_Where's Temari? Shouldn't she be out of her tutoring and shadowing Gaara by now?_ He didn't pause to look, checking to see if she was nearby as he went. He could feel in his gut that there was something that had gone drastically wrong with his brother. He jumped to the roof tops to follow the read head, keeping out of sight as best as he could. It was a little difficult with the puppet on his back, but he managed it anyways. He started to a stop, however, as he saw Gaara getting attacked once again, his sand exploding at his attacker. As it cleared, his jaw dropped, seeing who it was that attacked.

_Uncle…__ What are you doing to Gaara?_ Why_ are you attacking him? _Kankurō stayed low behind the wall of the building, trying to listen in on what was being said, holding the puppet to keep it from making any noise.

"I think, deep down, I always hated you," he heard, along with Gaara's cry of despair. Kankurō's eyes widened. He may not have loved his brother (he thought), but he cared for him as his brother, pitying him for not being able help the way people looked at him. He might have feared him if not for their experiences by his bed side years ago, but he knew that Gaara was like everyone else, as a person, and just wanted the same things that everyone else did: companionship. He looked down, feeling bad that he had never done anything to help Gaara feel that, but they had thought it was best to act different, to keep others from finding out about Gaara, and he'd felt depressed when he'd found out that his mom had died right in front of his eyes. Looking at Gaara just reminded him of that.

He raised his head in determination. Uncle was already done with _this_ betrayal, and Kankurō was going to be the real deal. He didn't care anymore about hiding, he was going to show Gaara that someone cared for _real_, but he wanted to talk to his uncle before he died.

Peeking over the edge he realized that his plan might not work out so well. Yashamaru was revealing that he was covered in explosive tags. Having witnessed one or two assassination attempts, he knew that Gaara would live, but Yashamaru…he still needed to answer for this betrayal.

He acted without much thought, going by instinct from what he'd learned that day. _It's a basic technique_, they'd told him, _to perform a substitution with your puppet; basic, but difficult. It will take you some time to get it right_. He quickly made the signs, attaching chakra strings to the puppet and throwing a couple to his uncle. Chakra poured into the strings, and he closed his eyes as the explosion went off. _Did I make it?_

"How did you do that!" Kankurō jumped as he heard Temari's voice. She'd seen them all from below as she neared where she thought the first explosion was. She'd seen her Uncle reveal all the explosive notes on his body then, as Gaara lifted his hands to cover his eyes, she'd seen her uncle…_shift_, it seemed. Then she saw, just as the explosion took place, there was a puppet instead. She caught a glint and, looking up, she'd caught a glimpse of her other brother, and jumped up to him, finding him standing over her uncle, but looking down at their youngest brother on the lower roof. Now he was looking at her in surprise, not having expected to see her at such a pivotal moment.

"Temari! What are you doing here?" She rolled her eyes, arms crossed.

"Gaara had more crap happen to him today. I've been trailing him most of the day, just like I do _all_ the time." Kankurō winced. Temari had always been better about making sure Gaara was watched over, even after they'd decided to start tailing him. She'd never been scared of him like Kankurō was. Being hit several times by Gaara's sand, even if he'd done it on purpose, could have that kind of effect. That said, it was impressive that he overcame that fear and proposed that they start watching over him in the first place. "So, what's going on?" Kankurō opened his mouth to answer, but Yashamaru spoke first.

"Your father wants your brother dead," he said tonelessly, as if he didn't care.

"What? But why? And why are helping him!" Despite the large killing intent being focused on him, he didn't react.

"Because he's the reason your mother, my sister, died. If it wasn't for him-"

"If it wasn't for him, _mother_ would have never been able to tell us about our-"

"Temari!" Temari meeped as she covered her mouth, realizing what she'd almost revealed. Yashamaru finally showed an emotion, curiosity.

"Karura couldn't have told you? Told you what? She died a long time ago, when Gaara was born." Kankurō sighed, shaking his head.

"No, she didn't die when Gaara was born," he said. "Tou-san saved her life so he could do what he did to Gaara _again_. That's when she ran away, but everyone knows about that. Don't you remember?" Yashamaru looked confused.

"Remember what? I remember Karura-chan dying, and being told to watch over Gaara after she died. I've been doing that ever since he was born." Temari and Kankurō exchanged a look of surprise, then nodded. Temari had been right about him after all. Kankurō looked away in the shame he felt for being so angry at his uncle a few moments before.

"Uncle, I think tou-san wiped your memory," Temari said.

"What? No, there's no way-"

"Then why don't you remember _not_ taking care of Gaara when we went with tou-san to Konoha five years ago?" His eyes widened.

"You've never been to Konoha," he declared, trying to raise his wounded body up, but falling back in his weakened state.

"Yes, we have, and we stayed at the Hokage's tower, and walked through the giant gates. Yes, uncle, we have been to Konoha, and you don't even remember." Yashamaru gaped like a fish.

"But, but then, but when…what about Karura?" Temari hesitated and Kankurō took over.

"Kaa-san had another baby, and tou-san was going to do to her what he did to Gaara, so kaa-san ran away."

"No, no, that's not right, that can't be true, Kazekage sama wouldn't-" He was caught off by a slap. He stared at Temari.

"Uncle, stop it! You're better than this, and you _did_ care about Gaara! So stop it!" Tears came to his eyes and he lay prone on the roof. They could all hear Gaara screaming in pain.

"Oh no," Kankurō muttered, looking down at his brother. "I don't like that look." Temari moved over to where Kankurō was looking down on their brother and gasped. She'd never seen such a look in Gaara's eyes. Always he had some sort of emotion, whether happiness and acceptance around Yashamaru, or fear and hurt around others that rejected him. Now there was…nothing. There was no emotion. His eyes, even from up where the three of them were, radiated coldness. And there was something on his forehead…

"From now on, I will love only myself, and live for only myself," she heard him say.

"Father, what have you done to him…" She cried freely. She was always looking forward to the day when she could openly show her love for her brother, when doing so would not make her father keep them apart. Would he even let her in now?"

"Gaara, is he okay? What's happened to Gaara!" Temari wiped the tears out of her eyes, and went over to kneel at her uncle's side, noticing now the blood that was seeping from his wound.

"Kankurō, get Chiyo oba-san. I, I think she'll manage to keep quiet about this." Kankurō nodded after Temari pointed out the blood coming from their uncle and began to run up to the old house the healer lived in, away from the village.

"Temari, is Gaara okay? I didn't…kill him, did I?" Temari shook her head as she began to do what she could to slow the bleeding. He may have tried to kill her brother, but he had been a pawn of her father, just like her mother and brother were…and probably her and Kankurō too, just not as bad.

"Gaara is alive, but I think whatever you did to him, destroyed him inside." Yashamaru was crying.

"What have I done? What can I do?" Temari looked around.

"You can keep a secret, and wait for when the time is right to come back." His eyes pleaded for the answer to stop his breaking heart.

"I'm going to tell you what mom died for…"

* * *

**There is it! Sadly, yes, Gaara will still_ think_ he's alone, but as you can see, things are going to be drasticlly different for him anyways.**

**Next chapter will still focus on the sand sibs, but i'm not sure if it will be the after that chapter or the next that we get back to current time period. We'll just have to wait and see. And thanks for being so patient with me getting this chapter out. I hate taking a whole month to write a chapter, but accounting 302 is a REALLY hard class...that I am currently failing, actually. hehe. But, i'm getting better, believe it or not. Regardless I think I'll be pumping out more chapers next semester, but for now I don't know if I'll be able to be regular. :( **

**Hey, ya'll have a good one and don't forget to leave a review!**


	15. The Story of Baki

**Well, this took a while, but by the end of the chapter the story lines will meet together again. Lots of fun for the sand sibs, some character development, and a little back story for Baki! Yeah! But this was a fun chapter to write, and I _think_ I've shown Gaara's inner conflict rather well. More will continue after this chapter, of course, as the chuunin exams progress.**

**Well, that's enough of them. I don't have much time before my ride shows up after all!**

**generic disclaimer **

**oh, btw, due to rides etc, this chapter will have more grammar errors than usual, but I'll be back to fix them later...after the 10+ hours of driving I'll be a part of today.**

* * *

"Yeah! We score," yelled Tsuchino, pumping his fist. He and his friends had all healed since the incident with Gaara three days before. They were all excited to be out playing again, though Korobi seemed to be a little more reserved than them. He didn't let it spoil his fun, but he kept thinking about what Lady Temari had said to him, that _he_ was the monster for not letting Gaara play with them. As luck would have it, he saw Gaara standing by the same pole he usually hid behind. As his friends spread out again to start the next play, he looked at the ball now held in his hands. He walked slowly over to where the red haired boy stood.

"Do you want to p, play," he asked, tentatively, holding out the ball. The other boys held their breath as the saw where their friend had moved to, and Korobi felt a spike of fear as a malicious glint appeared in Gaara's eyes as he discussed with the voice he'd always heard before, but never listened to.

_He doesn't care, just like Yashamaru. He will turn on us._

_What should I do?_

_Make him bleed; make him bleed for us? Blood for your mother!_

"Play," he questioned softly. Korobi nodded, gulping as the fear increased. Gaara smirked and lifted a hand, spreading out the fingers lazily. "Yes, I think I'd like to…_play_." Sand erupted all around him, speeding towards the little boy as he screamed.

"Noo!"

"Korobi!"

Gaara began laughing, a cold, maniacal laugh. A vein like blue, mixed with sand, creeped across his face as an eye turned yellow. The sand rose into a dome that shadowed the small boy, but as it dropped, there was a sudden gust of wind. Korobi was blown out of the way as it all crashed down, a few scrapes and bruises. Despite his fear, he did not run when he friends came to grab him and pull him away.

"Gaara-sama, I'm sorry! Please, don't do this." Gaara paid him no heed as frowned, looking for the boy's savoir. He found it in a girl, still on one knee, open fan extended behind her.

"Temari," he growled. "What are you doing," he demanded, the blue veins fading. Temari stifled a shiver, but steeled her face, putting on a strong stance as she stood, propping the end of her fan on the ground, the other hand on her hip.

"I'm stopping you, little brother. I don't care what happened, but this isn't you." Gaara laughed.

"And you would know? You never spent the time to be near me; to _know_ me. You fear me, you hate me, just like everyone else."

"I don't hate you," a small voice said. Korobi had walked over, once again, and placed the ball on the ground, as if in peace offering. "I'm sorry," he said, turning. Gaara's face twisted the veins becoming prominent once more.

"No!" Temari whipped out her fan again, directing it at his sand. It scattered somewhat and he turned his rage on her again.

"You shall not stop me! I will vindicate my existence!"

"Then vindicate it on me," she called out, pointing a thumb at her chest. "I won't let you hurt anyone else, Gaara-kun. You may think I don't know you, but I know you enough to stop you. You'll regret it one day, and hate me for not stopping you."

"I'll kill you…"

_No!_

_But she's stopping us! We need blood…._

_But it's Temari! She doesn't want me hurt._

_That's what Yashamaru said, and look what happened!_

_No… not, not yet…_

_…Fine, not today, but one day, mother will call for _her_ blood as well. We will be vindicated, and mother's death will be avenged._

The sand dropped, but it still stirred around the boy. Temari watched in fascination as it formed itself into a gourd and floated over onto Gaara's back.

"One day, I'll fulfill that promise, and with this very sand, infused with my charka, with my promise, I will do it." He turned, walking away, and Temari collapsed, on the verge of tears. A comforting hand gripped her shoulder.

"He'll remember one day," he said. "He'll remember that you love him. And once dad's gone, we'll show him." She smiled at her brother.

"Thanks." He nodded.

"Come on; people are already calling you the people's protector, and I'm sure dad will want to talk." She grimaced, but stood. Would it be all out in the open now, or could they still hide what they felt.

.

.

.

"That's my girl," the Kazekage said proudly. "Already taking on the dangerous. Who knew Gaara would act like that? And still, you stood up to him; darn near beat him, it looks like." She shook her head.

"No, Gaara chose to not fight. I don't know why, tou-san, but I, I couldn't let him hurt our people."

"Very good; maybe you'll become Kazekage one day, if you keep up that strength. Remember, your duty is to the people, and so you must be strong; stronger than anyone! Understand." Temari bowed her head, biting back her tongue and swallowing the bile in her throat.

"Hai, tou-san."

"Very good. It won't be long before I get you on a team; just keep working on your skills, and you'll make me proud yet, girl.

"Hai," you stinking son of…."

.

.

.

_No, no, noo!_

Gaara was clutching his head in agony. He was a war with himself. He had nearly hurt his sister, one of the only two people he'd always felt warmth from. He even thought he remembered her holding him when he was very young…a baby still? And a promise….a promise to his mother…to protect his sister…

_Your mother died with you, boy; it is but a dream. _

_But, but it seemed so real! And I thought, I thought kaa-san was, was there…_

_You were too young; what child remembers anything that young? You'd have not been one year old._

_Of course…but why do I feel like there's someone out there…waiting for me?_

_It is a dream; no one cares, and we shall show prove our existence to this hating, uncaring world. We shall turn the sands red with blood._

_Yes, yes of course…the girl is not real; I have only one sister, and her name…is not Naruto…_

.

.

.

In Konoha, a small blond girl suddenly clutched her heart and stopped walking. The purple haired chuunin, carrying a bucket of paint, looked over her shoulder.

"Naruto-chan? What's wrong?" Naruto turned her eyes towards the southwest.

"I…I don't know," she said. "I just…I just felt really sad right then, like someone important was hurt." Anko frowned, her eyebrow's creasing. She knelt down.

"Hey, no one you know is even out of the village right now. Sometimes, we just get bad feelings, but it doesn't mean anything really. Everyone gets sad, sometimes, but we have to try and be happy anyways, no matter how sad we feel. K?" Naruto sniffed, letting Anko wipe away a tear, even though it left some of her blue paint on her face.

"Thanks, Anko chan."

"No problem," she said, grinning like her usual insane self. "Not, are we going to paint you jii-san's office or not?"

"Heck yeah!"

.

.

.

Gaara never listened to anyone after that, unless he felt like it, and Yashamaru was not the last attempt on his life. It became a game for the young boy, how long it took for him to find his next killer, and then how bloody he could make it. It hadn't been bloody enough when his uncle died. His 'mother', as he referred to the voice in his head, hadn't been sated by that death. He gave in to the voice, and killed without care. He no longer tried to play with the other children. In fact, he took pleasure in ruining their games. He always wondered at how the one soccer ball found its way into his room, but he kept it as a reminder to one day kill the other boy.

Eventually, the assassinations all but stopped. They didn't come more than once a month and his father had begun to speak to him again. Not that he cared. He knew it was father that wanted him killed in the first place. Like everyone else, he hated him. He just saw what Gaara could do, now. He stood by while Gaara was tutored in shinobi skills. The boy began to truly excel, though his teachers did not always come out better for wear. Only one became subject to Gaara's vindication, his self love. This teacher had been teaching him about jutsus and how hard it was to create new ones, but that since Gaara had a unique use of sand, he should begin learning.

The screams were most…_pleasing_ to Gaara. "Desert coffin," he said as he clenched his hand shut. This had been the most glorious death yet. He chuckled. "I cannot create my own yet, you say? Tell it to the devil." His father had not reprimanded him much, but it became harder to find new teachers after wards. Thankfully, some years had passed and there was little time left before he would reach the typical academy graduation age. The only reason he hadn't been passed before was a fear that no one would be able to handle being on a team with him, yet be on a team he must. He was to be flaunted before all the other lands, the perfect weapon. He needed a team, and he needed to advance. He could not do that stuck in Suna…and soon his blood lust would take its toll on the village.

To that end, his father called Temari and Kankurō back from their missions early. They were both strong, as it turned out, prodigies in their fields. Temari possessed a strong wind chakra, and Kankurō was deft in his use of puppets. In a rare visit he'd heard the old bad Chiyo exclaim that he might surpass her skills one day, though she refused to train the boy herself. The reason he choose them was only partly because of their power, though.

"As I recall, there was once a time the two of you were around Gaara quite a bit, is that not so." Temari shrugged.

"I guess so," her brother said. "Why? What's Gaara been up to now?" Their father pursed his lips. Kankurō's disdain for him had become evident over the years, but he still obeyed orders.

"Its past time that Gaara graduated from the academy, but there is no one who is willing to be on his team. Everyone his age is afraid, running from him like rabbits from coyotes. You two, will be his team." Temari's eyes flew open and Kankurō's head shook in surprise.

"On, on a team? With Gaara? He doesn't even look at us anymore."

"But you _will_ stand by him. The world needs to see his power, and it will only look more impressive for us if my whole family is associated with it-" _Probably because you're weak, old man_, Kankurō thought. The Kazekage continued to speak, but neither of them were listening. They had tried to talk to Gaara now and then, and even though he would eye Temari, almost as if saying _not yet_, they still loved him. Of course he brushed off any attempts to show him, but on missions? Outside the village? This was the chance they'd been waiting for.

"Who's our sensei to be?"

"It will be me," a voice said. Temari looked over to the door. A figure was in the shadows, but even from here she could see half of his face covered by a cloth. He was Baki, a Jounin of great skill. He had also been Gaara's combat instructor. That was when his face had become scared by the boy's sand, and why he wore the cloth now. Temari frowned. Baki was good; there was no guarantee they'd be able to sneak off and talk to Gaara, and she feared he'd hate him like all the others did, maybe more because of his face.

"Yes, it is Baki-san. Now, go and get Gaara. Baki already has the details for you first mission together."

"Hai, Kazekage-sama," they said, bowing and following their new sensei out of the room. No one spoke for a while, until Baki asked if they knew where Gaara might be.

"He seems like enjoy being in the desert," Kankurō said. "Says he doesn't have to deal with us foolish people." Baki nodded, glancing around them before halting.

"Fine, then that is where we will go. However," he said, turning to face them, "I want you two to know something. Gaara-sama is a person. He is certainly disturbed, but that is the fault of you two and your father. I will not have the same attitude carried in our team that you carry as a family. If I find it in you two, you shall not like the punishment I dole out. I can do little about Gaara, but I think in our time he at least came to respect my skills, if not me." Temari gapped.

"Wait; you, you don't hate Gaara-kun?" His visible eyebrow lifted.

"You will address me as Baki-sensei, and since when was Gaara rate a 'kun' from you?" Temari blushed, looking away.

"Hey, don't talk to Temari like that!" He soon found himself face down in the dirt, Baki's foot in the small of his back.

"I shall address the Kazekage's brats as I see fit. If she shows a lack of proper respect, that is her fault. I don't care who your father is. To me, you're both little brats that can't even support your own brother enough to keep him from going crazy.

"You think we didn't try," Kankurō said through the sand in his mouth as he tried to push himself up; a futile effort with Baki's foot still on his back. "Every time we thought we could get away with it without father knowing we tried to show him we cared! And we still do!" The pressure on his back lessened and he managed to squirm out though he remained on the ground, fear over realizing what he'd just revealed beginning to rule out the anger he'd been feeling. Still, Baki's gaze was cold.

"Obviously you did not love him enough," he said, "or it wouldn't have mattered." He turned. "Come on; it's time to tell your brother that he finally has a team." Temari helped him up, a confused gaze on her face.

"So…weird. I was sure he'd hate Gaara…but doesn't he understand we did what we could." Kankurō huffed.

"Who cares; he's a jerk! At least he won't care if we try to talk to Gaara," he said.

"Right…come on, let's hurry up," she said. "We don't want sensei madder at us than he already is."

.

.

.

"Gaara!" The jinchuuriki turned at the sound of his name. He looked at the new comers curiously.

"Baki…how is your face," he asked, though it was without real concern. "And why are Temari and kankuro here."

"Kazekage-sama has finally made you a team so you can go on missions outside the village."

"You mean so that he stops losing shinobi to my existence."

"Gaara! That's not right!" A small grin appeared on his face.

"Temari…you are on my team?" His sand shifted restlessly and Temari nodded. "Hmmm…I believe I made you a promise once. Perhaps I shall yet fulfill it." Temari shrugged, refusing to feel fear.

"You'll change your mind," she said. "I'll prove you're not alone." This surprised Gaara as he looked incredulously between his siblings and Baki.

"Prove it? You'll prove it? When you never say it, except now, in front of other people? Ha, you make me laugh. You're just like uncle. You will continue to pretend until you, like all the others, have no more need of me."

"Be that as it may, it's time for our first mission." Heads whipped around in shock.

"What? Already? But we only just got made a team a few minutes ago." Baki waved an uncaring hand at Kankuro's outburst.

"That was simply a formality. Kazekage-sama already had it planned and our first mission is information retrieval from an outpost near Ishigakure in the north. Its b ranked so you three will have to listen closely to what I say."

"C-rank?" Kankuro shook his head. "Well, dad's gone nuts now."

"Who cares," Gaara mused. "The more dangerous, the more I can be satisfied." His siblings shivered, and even Baki felt a tingle of fear.

"Right. Pack for four days and meet me at the gates. Understood?"

They were on their way soon after, traveling with Baki in front. Temari and Kankuro were a few feet behind him, but Gaara was walking off to the side, arms crossed and contemplative. It was some time before Temari spoke again.

"Baki sensei, what type of information are we retrieving, exactly? What's so important about it that it's a b rank?" Baki rolled his right shoulder along with his neck, not answering immediately.

"We have an… asylum, in that area, full of shinobi who lost their minds in the course of duty. The information we're gathering tells of their progress and treatments, and also…tests," he told her, muttering the last bit.

"Tests? What kind of tests, sensei," asked Kankuro. They could not see it, but Baki frowned, his covered eye twitching.

"Some shinobi that loose themselves had unique abilities, and some believe that if keep them alive and study them, we can , in a sense, mass produce those same abilities in _all_ of our shinobi. Of course, its is very dangerous and makes the information highly valuable for enemy nations."

"Then wouldn't it be better to keep it close, sensei?"

"Perhaps, but remember, what I said about them losing their minds. Everyone working near them is in constant danger of the more powerful ones lashing out and killing them, which, closer to Suna, would mean high potential for civilian losses. We can't afford to have it so close."

"Hmmm… I guess that makes sense, but isn't there a more formal system for this, if the info has to be gathered consistently."

"Usually there are anbu available, but lately there's been a… shortage of available anbu for this mission, so your father started assigning it out to chuunin and some genin teams. There's never been an incident yet, but that doesn't mean nothing will happen. Now come on, it's time we picked up the pace."

.

.

.

"Ah, Baki-san! How have you been since your last visit?" Baki grunted to the squat man with round glasses. He was wearing a lab coat and had a huge smile on his face, though it seemed more of a fools smile than a friendly one, even if his tone was a pleasant one.

"Well enough; how are the patients."

"Oh, they're quite healthy. A few more died, but it's mostly been from old age. We are very careful with our subjects…"

"Don't call them that," Baki whispered, a dangerous glare in his eye that had even Gaara quirking an eyebrow in an almost eager interest. The doctor sweated.

"Ah, yes, yes of course. My apologies. We'll have the data for you shortly. You may walk around as you like as it will take about a half hour to make the final preparations and check out." The man shuffled out quickly as Baki sighed, letting his frustration flow out before turning to his genin.

"Alright, we have a little time. Rest up and eat. I'm going to take a look at the patients here." He should have known that someone would follow him. He walked through a door and down the hall, taking a couple turns before stopping at one window and putting a hand up to the glass.

"Hello, Taki…"

.

.

.

"Sensei knows someone here," Kankuro told Temari as they sat, eating some moosh provided by the 'hospital.' His sister raised an eyebrow.

"Really? What makes you say that?"

"I followed him, and he stopped at one guy, and called him 'Taki.' Why do you think he knows someone here?" Temari shrugged.

"He's been a shinobi for a long time. It's probably an old teammate and sensei feels sorry that he went nuts."

"Hmmm, I don't think so. He seemed really sad, yeah, but not like, teammate sad. It was-"

"None of your business really, but yes, Taki was a teammate of mine, until other people made him the way he is now. Now," he said, motioning with his head towards the doorway, "we have what we came here for, and now it's time to go." Gaara, who had been reclining in a window, slipped down to the ground, arms crossed and bored.

"Very well. Perhaps once we leave someone will attack us en-route."

"Well, wouldn't it be better to attack with only the doctors around?"

"No, Kankuro, though one might think that. The doctors have their own defense set up, and its familiar territory. Not to mention the risk of them releasing a patient instead of fighting them directly. The better option is to set up a surprise attack for someone heading back and take the documents then."

"Oh, I see how that would be better…so I guess _now_ is when it gets dangerous, isn't it?" Baki nodded and Temari and Kankuro both quieted, contemplating the journey home while Gaara grinned.

.

.

.

"Sensei, when are we camping tonight? I mean, we already passed our campsite from yesterday."

"Kankuro, the oasis is a perfect place to spring an attack from, especially because it offers a sense of ease. It is better that we find a spot that is away from comfort, that will keep us on our guard. This place will better warn us of incoming danger."

"Hmph; well, I'd still like to stop there and get some water."

"It's your own fault for dressing so darkly," came Gaara's gravely voice. The three almost stopped as the spotted Gaara sitting on a nearby dune. He'd gone ahead, telling Baki to leave him alone. They hadn't been sure where he was, but he'd made it very clear that he was to be left alone.

_We were promised blood, and it has not been given! It's time we took her, that we fulfilled the promise we made!_

_No, not yet; it isn't time. We should wait. She may yet give us something more. If she continues saying she cares…_

_Which she doesn't. No one does. We must kill them, take their blood. Prove to us our existence!_

_But she may yet provide the way to more. We need a team to go out more, to find more strong people. The weaklings at home aren't enough._

_…true, they are no fun. They do little to prove our existence. Yes, we will wait a little longer, but we must have blood soon…_

_Yes, mother, we will have it soon. Good blood. After all, something is near…_

"Kankuro, if you did not dress in such dark clothes you would stay cooler and not need so much water." He stood up, stretching out his hands. "I am camping here tonight. The sun is down already, so it is time." He flicked his fingers and a small structure appeared. "You are free to do what you will," he said as he walked in, "but I stay here." Baki grumbled.

"Alright, we stay together, since Gaara is in a better mood. Set up camp. I've got rations prepared. We won't use a campfire tonight." The sand siblings nodded, taking off their packs and setting up their own shelter to stay warm.

"What do you think?" Temari paused as she unwrapped her bed roll.

"About Baki, or Gaara?" Kankuro rolled his eyes.

"About the mission. I think it's odd that Gaara choose to stop here, right where we ran into him. I think something's up. I mean, with Shukaku inside him, wouldn't that give him something else besides the sand? Do you think he can sense other things?" Temari rocked back a little in shock, looking at Kankuro closely.

"Maybe," she mused, "but wouldn't he have said something else? Hinted at it?"

"Maybe," was the reply, "but you know how he's been since…you know…" Temari bowed her head.

"Yeah, you're right. He's out for blood, but what can we do?"

"Get ready or something, I don't know. _You're_ the smart one."

"I'm only a genin!"

"So is Gaara!"

"Oh, that's good to know…" The two stopped arguing as a man appeared next to them. "That means this will be easy."

.

.

.

Baki was reading through the reports on his own, scowling, when he heard a war cry. He jumped up, cursing himself for not paying better attention, or even posting a watch. Across the camp he saw several figures, but not enough. He ran towards them, lighting a flare and throwing it in the air as he went.

There were five enemies, and two were waiting for him. One was holding Temari by her hair while the other two dodged around Kankuro's puppet and attacked him with kunai. He was doing quite well Baki had to admit, but they were being toyed with. He'd swallow his tongue if more than two of these were chuunin. There were almost all certainly special Jounin, trained in espionage. He was in trouble. The _kids_ were in trouble.

Baki was not without his talents, of course. He was very fast, and he specialized in ninjutsu. His brand was particularly effective in the desert. Much like Gaara, he used sand infused with chakra, but it was difficult to do in the midst of battle, and not actually as effective. While Gaara could attack and defend, as Baki well knew, his brand was mostly used to distract.

Kunai met kunai as he engaged the two waiting shinobi. He dropped to the ground, successfully causing them to shot past him. He smirked as he threw the two kunai he'd just used at his targets. They dodged to either side as he prepped some sand and threw shuriken at the shinobi holding Temari. They grunted as the shuriken impacted, causing him to drop Temari. She didn't move expect to grip her head and writhe a little on the ground. With the flare getting closer to the ground he could see all the bruises she'd already received before he saved her.

Baki flipped up, a small wall of sand coming with him and forming into three more of him. It bought him a precious second to gather more sand shoot it at the injured shinobi's eyes. It was normal sand and didn't hit hard, but it did blind him. He was surprised when Kankuro used the opening to attack with his puppet. The boy knew that he was not fairing well on his own and decided to risk an attack to take down an enemy. Baki was grateful for the help, but winced as the boy was engaged in close combat. Baki would be on his own in another moment. He readied himself, infusing the sand. Kankuro went flying and the four enemies surrounded him. They shot forward as one and then sand shot up all around them. Baki whipped out a pair of goggles, making him the only one that could see thanks to the heat vision his goggles gave him. However, as he moved to attack, all the shinobi sputtering out sand from their mouths and staying in defensive positions, the sand fell. Looking up, he saw Gaara, hands outstreached as he hovered over the ground on a sand disk.

"Kankuro already took one of my victims. In get the rest," he stated, sweeping a hand over the field, knocking Baki out of the way with a wall of sand.

"So, you're the brat we've heard about," one of the shinobi said as he wiped the last of the sand from his brow. "The Shukaku child. Never thought we'd meet you here, but I think we can handle you. After all, you have one great weakness." Gaara grinned.

"Well then, prove it to me! Show me your strength! Vindicate me!" he laughed as three of the shinobi launched themselves at him. They were fast, but none of their strikes reached through his sand. He kept laughing.

"Yes, yes, attack me with all your might! Attack! Fail! And no…bleed!" A hand reached out and one shinobi was engulfed with sand.

"Ahh! Senpai! Save me! Argh!"

"Sand Coffin!" Blood rained from the sky as the man's body was crushed. "Yes, that's it; feed my mother! Give us what we desire!" Sand was gathering around Gaara more and more until he was looking less and less human. Another shinobi was batted to the side.

"Water style, water pistol jutsu!" A jet of water hit Gaara's side. He turned, annoyed, and Baki stared as part of Gaara's sand began to slide off.

"This is…"

"You will pay for that."

"Will I? I just proved your weakness, didn't I? Your sand doesn't hold together with water soaking it, and I've just gotten us all the water we'll need!" Gaara looked around, seeing a large pool of water that had come from below the ground. He would surmise that the man had earth chakra and had pulled up the well the held water for a nearby oasis, but for now he didn't care. He could only use so much sand in this form, so mother said.

_Its time_, came the voice._ Its time to show them all what we can do. Give me the power, and we shall have all the blood we desire!_ Gaara grinned.

"You have not weakened me, but ensured my power. Behold, forced sleep jutsu!" He made the sign, and for the first time in his life, Gaara's eye's dropped, and his head dropped. The sand around him swirled and gathered, clinging to his body, lifting him up and growing. The small bit of wet sand became of no consequence next to the massive volume of sand that was now the obstacle.

"Attack! Don't let it grow! He's calling out his beast!" The two remaining shinobi began using jutsu after jutsu of water, trying to slow his growth. He worked, but only a little. They were, after all, in the desert. Sand was in a much greater abundance than water. Baki forced himself not to watch. If Gaara was no longer in control, they had other problems to deal with. He needed to find Temari and Kankuro. He spotted them, next to the quickly disappearing structure Gaara had made earlier. Temari had recovered and was helping Kankuro up. He had gotten his puppet back and was storing it on his back.

"Temari! Kankuro! Get over here!" The girl looked up, seeing their sensei and helped the limping Kankuro make it to their sensei.

"Baki sensei, what's going on!"

"It's Gaara, he's let his bijuu take control."

"How do we stop it?" he stared at them.

"Stop it? There's no way we can stop _that_! Look at those two! They found a weakness for Shukaku and anyone could tell that they're not going to win. The only thing I can do is save you two now, and hope he calms down later." Temari clenched her fists and Kankuro shook his head.

"No," he said, "there's a way. There _has_ to be. Nothing's invincible."

"Human's against bijuu? No, it would take _another_ bijuu. Now that Gaara's asleep-"

"That's it!" Both males looked at their female counterpart. "Gaara made himself go to sleep. If he was awake again, he wouldn't be like this. He might still be dangerous, but we can handle a normal Gaara." Kankuro looked over at the battle. Another shinobi had been caught and was screaming his last breath before he was crushed like his teammate before him. Gaara was embedded in the giant beast's head. None of them could jump that high, though. It would take something extra, pull still controllable…

"Temari, let me lead you."

"What?"

"Not even sensei can jump that high, but if I attach my chakra strings to you, while he's still beating this last guy then sensei can take him out while I take you up and you wake Gaara up." She nodded, standing up and holding out her body.

"Be quick; we don't have any time."

"You're both crazy!" Temari glared at him.

"Maybe, but he's still our brother. One day, one day he'll regret this, and I'll make sure he has as little to regret as possible!" Baki was taken aback. He looked between the two, and Temari dashed off.

"…I'm sorry for what I said before, back in the village. Perhaps…_I_ am the one who lacks respect…you love your brother more than I did mine." He looked across at the enemy shinobi and stood tall. "Well, I believe I have a job to do. Good luck."

"What-" Kankuro began, but Baki was already gone and Temari was at Shukaku's base. Like Baki said, Kankuro, too, had a job to do.

.

.

.

Temari raced up to the sand colossus, pushing aside all the fears she'd had. If ever there was a time that Gaara would fulfill his promise, she knew this would be it. She had once chance, and one only, to get to him and wake him up. As she got near she felt the sudden lift and she also yelped. Silence was still key; the ability to remain unnoticed. Even with all the water hitting around her, the sand sliding down around her in great gobs.

She jerked up again, looking down to see a concentrating Kankuro. Even from here she could see all the effort that it was taking him, and she saw Baki actually joining in the fray, mostly adding simple distraction rather than attacking Gaara. He was setting himself up to attack the other shinobi once Temari canceled out Shukaku's hold on Gaara. She looked up just in time to see a huge glob fall and then she jerked to the side as Kankuro pulled her to avoid it. She was nearly there, but right then she felt Kankuro's strings fail. Glancing down she saw that sand was falling hard on those below. A spike had skewered the final enemy shinobi and Kankuro and Baki had barely avoiding such a fate themselves. But she was so close…

"No one can stop me! I'm free!" _No, for Gaara, I_ have _to make it!_ She grabbed her fan, whipping it around.

"Let go of my brother you monster!" Fan wide open, she pushed to the ground and a great gust of wind propelled her up and above the great beast. "Now take _this!_" Another swipe and the sand that began to shoot out at her was flattened and she landed next to Gaara's prone form. "And wake _up!_" The slap echoed across the desert as Gaara's eyes started open.

"T-Temari…"

"Gaara," she said, tears in her eyes as the sand began to crumble around them. "Thank-goodness your back." Her fan cast aside she grabbed onto him. "Never do that again," she whispered. Gaara's eyes remained widened as they fell, his sand softening the fall.

"Temari, Gaara! You okay?" Temari shakily stood to her feet.

"I'm fine. What about you, Gaara?" The boy began to sit up, but before he could speak a new wave of water came over them knocking all the Suna shinobi down again. Coming out of the small pool of water still left came the shinobi who had been knocked away after Shukaku began his transformation.

"That monster may have killed my team, but I'll see him end here. Water style, water needles jutsu!" Fortunatly Temari landed next to her fan once again.

"Oh yeah? Suck on this; and stay away from my brother!" The needles never came close, and as the wind knocked the shinobi away…and straight into the kunai of Baki. He died with no more sound as the Jounin tossed his body to the ground and limped over to his team.

"Is everyone alright? Kankuro, Temari, Gaara?" The first two nodded in turn, but Gaara remained silent, a battle going on inside him.

_She stopped us! We had blood and she interfered!_

_…she hugged us…a _real_ hug. Didn't that mean something once?_

_It's all a lie. No one cares, and she was manipulating you just like everyone else does._

_That hug was so warm…_

_So were Yashamaru's hugs, and look at what he did to us!_

_But it felt…_familiar_, too, not just nice, and she only jumped in at the end._

_To keep us from our blood!_

_…but we had enough,_

_Except for that at her feet! Take her; make her pay!_

_…no…._

_…What?_

_No, I won't. Not today. There is something….different and unexpected about her. _

_Do as I say! Mother cries for her bl-_

_DO AS _I_ SAY!_

The voice became quiet and Gaara stood up, not answering the questions given to him. He walked back over what remained of the shelter he'd made earlier, raising his arms and construcing it once more.

"No one else is here," he said, he teammates encouraged by his words. "No leave me alone until you're ready to leave in the morning." With that, he walked away, into his meditaion chamber.

"Right," Baki said, straigtening. "I don't think there's much point in avoiding it now. Get a fire going, get some food, and hit the sack. I take first watch." The genin went about the work of the camp as their sensei went over to stand against one of the newly formed pillars of sand. He started out into the horizon, wondering.

"Sensei?" He turned to see Temari.

"Yes?"

"Kankuro mentioned that you said something, right after I left in the battle with Shukaku. What was it?" Baki sighed.

"I owe you both an apology, and an explanation. I was wrong in what I saiad about you two and your brother. Also, I should explain why I came down so hard on you two." He glanced at Gaara's quarters and continued.

"You see, it wasn't just a teammate I went to see in the asylum, it was my brother." Temari barely kept from gasping.

"What happened to him."

"During the last great war, my brother was a master spy. He warned the village of incoming attacks and sought to keep our enemies off our backs. At a crucial point in the war he gave an enemy, Konoha, information regarding our actual troop movement and strength. Because of that we avoided a battle that would have caused our village substantial damage in troop strength." He looked at her hard, but without malice.

"Taki's actions were made public and he was condemned by the kazegae, who openly criticized him for leaking such explicit and valuable information to the enemy. Everyone turned against him…even me." Tears began to poor down his face.

"I turned him away, the very man I'd always looked up to, the one who me basic sand manipulation, and I rejected him. He secluded himself little by little until he became obsessed over a small set of possessions. He went crazy, and there was nothing I did about it, and it doesn't help that he created so many sand techniques, so they captured him and sent him to that…._torture_ house." He looked at Temari with tears rolling down his face.

"I loved my brother, but I didn't do anything until it was too late, and now he's stuck there. He's stuck there and now there isn't _anything_ I can do about it. I won't let that happen to Gaara, too."

"Neither will we," Kankuro said, walking up to them. "Its true we didn't do as much as we could have, but we love our brother, and we're doing everything we can to help him. Father doesn't know how much we know about him, but we won't let him destroy Gaara."

"That's right! He's our brother, and we're protecting him from father!" Baki wiped away his tears.

"Right; that's right. Forgive me for what I said to you before. You are good siblings. I'm honored to have you on my team." Baki surveyed the scene of the battle earlier that night before speaking again. "And one thing we have to do, is keep Gaara's weakness a secret. Kazekage-sama would use it somehow to hurt Gaara, so we can't let him know about the water." The sand siblings nodded.

"Hai! No one will know." Smiles of grim determination were shared all around.

"Good; now, you two go and get some sleep. I'll wake you up in a couple hours to take second watch, Kankuro, so you'll need your sleep." As everyone went about their own business, a red headed figure was rocking back and forth in their sand structure, whispering to themselves.

_"It's not real, they don't care; but they do. No they don't; we're alone, and it's all a trick. We're alone, we're alone, we're alone…"_

.

.

.

The sand siblings did several missions after words, including an A rank assassination mission. Never once that Gaara transform again, and he never threatened Temari again, though he kept up his emotionless persona and still reveled in killing. Baki would occasionally talk with him about ninjutsu and alternate ways to use the sand, and it amazed them all that Gaara actually listened. He still wouldn't let them in, though. Kankuro would clench his fists sometimes, as Gaara walked away from them after a mission was over, cursing his father under his breath. Of course, none of them knew what to think when they were called to their father's office and met a strange pale man with yellow slitted eyes.

"Children, the chuunin exams are coming up, and I've decided to have you three enter them."

"What? Really? Well, it's about time!" Kankuro was getting excited until he noticed his fathers odd stare. "Wait…what's going on?"

"As clever as you say, Kazekage-sama. Heheheh. Yes, young Kankuro, there is more going on. MUCH more…" The Kazekage shifted slightly.

"Hm, yes. Well, the exams will be held in Konoha this year. We've been saddled by them too long. Our treaty with them is holding us back. That is why, with Orochimaru's help, we will be invading Konoha at the end of the exams."

.

.

.

So, three weeks later, the sand siblings found themselves in Konoha, strolling down the lane scoping out the village. The next day the chuunin exams would start, and it was imperative that the three siblings pass the first portions of the exams to make it to the elimination rounds. _That_ was when the invasion would begin. They didn't expect a random child to run into kankuro, or his friends to follow and defend him when Kankuro got angry. It was useful to get a look at the last Uchiha before the exams started. Too bad he was so undistracted by Temari or they could have used him, swayed him to leave his village. Then came the words that stopped them in their tracks.

"Yeah, and my name's Naruto," the strange blond girl yelled after them. They froze, looking back at the girl, mouths agape. They took in the marks on her cheeks as Temari spoke.

"N, N, Naruto, did you say," the girl, Temari, asked.

"Yeah, it's Naruto, and I'm gonna be the next Hokage, so I'm gonna be the one you'll have to worry about in the exams, believe it!" Memories flooded their minds of a time in childhood when they were so excited to have a sister. But, she had died! It couldn't be; it couldn't be!

"Well, hey, come on Garra, we need to meet Baki sensei, remember? We'll…we'll talk about this later," Temari said, whispering the last part, tugging slightly on her brother's sleeve.

"Hnnn," he grunted, turning to follow her. _Naruto…perhaps I wasn't dreaming that all up after all_, he thought. _I need to find out for sure; if it _is_ her…well, if it is her, I have a promise to keep…_

* * *

**Okay, that's that! New chapter will be out...I'm not sure when. But leave me a review and let me know what you thought of this chapter. Tell me what you liked best and least, and your thoughts on Gaara's progression.**

**Oh, and even though she's reading over my shoulder as I'm writing this, little shout out to my hime. I love you! And I want everyone to know that you're the most awesome woman in the world!**

**Take care everyone!**

**(oh, and hi to you, too, momma bear)**


	16. Stalker

**Yeah, first off, sorry to those few of you that I said I would updating last Sunday. Issues with school came up, and I gotta talk to my girlfriend after all! Between those two things, and I admit to playing dragon age to 'de-stress', I haven't had much writing time. However, I was able to plan out the next 7 or so chapters in pretty good detail, so I won't be having too much writers block in the coming weeks.**

**Okay, as everybody knows, we're now back to the main story line. What will Gaara do now that he knows his sister is alive? Will the sand sibs keep quite about it? Will any missing persons come back before this chapter is over? (brownies if you figure out who I'm talking about before the end of the chapter; they'll be at the end of the chapter)**

**Generic disclaimer, sorry for a relatively short chapter, etc etc.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! :3**

* * *

"Well…that was weird," Naruto commented as the three Suna gennin walked away. Despite her exuberance, she knew their reaction to her name was odd. "Why did they act like that?"

"I don't know," Sasuke said, eyes narrowed as they followed the genin around the corner. "But I don't like them. We'll have to watch out for them in the exams. I didn't even notice Gaara in tree until he talked."

"I agree. He felt…weird, too." Naruto nodded at Sakura.

"Yeah; I don't think he was kidding when he told the other guy he would kill him." She shuddered. "Well, we should make sure we're ready for them next week then! Let's go Sakura; back to shopping!" Sasuke and Konohamaru sweat dropped.

"Dobe…" Then he eyed Konohamaru eyeing him.

"Hey, you want to play-"

"No!"

.

.

.

"Temari, tell me now," Gaara said, stopping in the alley they were taking a short cut through. "Is she who I think she is?" Temari started before both his siblings turned to face him.

"I, I think, she could be. I, we thought she was dead, though." She shook her head. "She should have been. We, we could find her…"

"And mother? I believe I was told that mother died giving birth to me." This time it was Kankuro.

"No, she didn't. Father lied in order to control you, and we could never give it away. You wouldn't have believed us either."

"Perhaps not," he mused. After all, why trust anyone when they would just turn on you later?

"He was going to trap in demon in her, like he did to you." Gaara's eyes snapped wide open in interest.

"_Another_ demon? Hmmm…. I think I would like to-" _you may never meet her…but if you do, do you promise to take care of her? For now…please promise you'll… protect… her… Gaaaaraaa…._ "I believe I have a promise to keep."

"Huh?" He tilted his head, staring at his siblings so hard it unnerved them.

"Mother made me promise to take care of Naruto. As much as I would like to test my strength against her demon, I made the promise. She is returning to our family."

"But, but Gaara," Kankuro sputtered, "how do you even remember that? And besides, what if she wants to stay here?" Gaara gave a short chuckle.

"We're destroying her home anyway, but when you never sleep, you have much more to remember." He moved past them. "Now, let's get going. I want to learn more about my sister." Temari and Kankuro looked at each other.

"Well crap."

.

.

.

Gaara spent the next few days in his room, following Naruto with his sand eye. He wondered why she was so kind to those around her. Didn't she see how little she could trust them? Everyone was a monster, just some were not as powerful as others…and some not as smart. His sister, for example. She thought that she could use him later, but it was he who was using her. As long as she was alive he had easy access to more victims through missions, and no one got in his way. He would continue to spare her for now.

Naruto though, she was odd to him. Once Kankuro had told him of their father's plans, he wondered why he hadn't noticed before. She _did_ have a demon inside her, just like he did. They would make a wonderful pair, he though, etching out their existence on the rest of the world. And yet, she did nothing like he did. She always smiled around others, gave them hugs, worked with them and encouraged them. However, that wasn't why he was actually in the woods watching her today. No, the reason he was here today, the day before the exams, was he had seen her _kiss_ a boy. He felt rage for the first time in years. There was a _boy_, and he was _kissing_ his _sister_! He would have to study her personally now, to keep that Uchiha away. Didn't she understand such things were tricks?

As he watched her spar he remembered another thing that confused him. She had the power of a demon within her. Why did she not use it? She had _much_ more power than she acted like she did. If she used it, then this _Uchiha_ would be flattened easily. Why did she let him beat her?

Soon after, the Kakashi man, the son of Konoha's White Fang, dismissed them, calling for the coming day as a reason for them to celebrate and rest for the next day. He was about to move to follow when he learned he'd been spotted.

"Alright, come on out; I want to know why you've spying on my students." Gaara lighted down from the tree.

"Spying I may have been," he said, a small growl in his voice, "but I care nothing for your students. It is my sister that interests me." Kakashi raised his eyebrow.

"Oh? And here I thought you were from Suna." Gaara squinted his eyes.

"Don't play with me, Hatake. You know of what I speak; you don't talk like an innocent." Kakashi chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

"No, I suppose I don't at that." The shinobi turned serious. "So, what do you want with Naruto-chan; and how did you know she was your sister?"

"A shinobi doesn't reveal their secrets," he said, "but then again, I'm a monster." He grinned, putting a hand to his eye, and another eye appeared few feet in front of him, hovering above the ground. "Though I admit, until this week we thought her dead." Kakashi nodded.

"I see. I thought I felt a small bit of foreign chakra when Karura san was still here." He frowned. "So why hasn't Suna come to claim her before? Why did you think she was dead?" Gaara lowered his eye, a small growl escaping his lips.

"We couldn't see her anymore; the place where she had been was destroyed. Would _you_ think someone survived such a thing? And besides, my sister belongs to me, not my father. He thinks he can control me, but he does not, and he will not control my sister's demon either." Gaara began walking away.

"She won't come with you." Gaara halted.

"She will." Kakashi smiled beneath his mask.

"No, she won't. She may be a knuckle head, but Konoha is her home. She is the daughter of Konoha shinobi. No test will show your father's blood in her. She won't leave, and she'll fight you to the death to stay here." Gaara laughed.

"She'll know soon enough how little she can trust the world, and she'll come home with me." With that he disappeared into the trees. Kakashi sighed.

"Karura san, I'm sorry your son turned out this way; I'm sorry Naruto has the burden she has, too. What should I do?" He turned and left his own way. He needed to visit an old unmarked grave and think.

.

.

.

"Hahahah, stop it, stop it!"

"Not till you say uncle!"

"N-n-never!" Naruto was being attacked…by Sasuke's tickle jutsu. Of course, she never gave in. He would stop soon enough and they would curl up beneath the tree, talking about Kiba's latest advances. He kept trying to ask her out, brought her flowers, and even tried to kiss her again. Sasuke's patience was running thin. He would have to have a talk with him.

"Why can't that mutt leave you alone?" Naruto sighed.

"I don't know, and Hinata's not much good either. I never would have thought she liked you, too. She was always so quiet, and she never talked about you. I mean, we used to make jokes about you during lunch back at the academy!" She blushed. "Umm, not that I really, that is, well, you know-" Sasuke laughed.

"I know, I know. I was a teme. Still am, really, but since we started dating, _you_ keep making me smile."

"Oh yeah, how _dare_ I make you lose your 'emo'-ness." Sasuke tried to glare, but Naruto's pout won over.

"Gah, how do you keep doing that to me?"

"Oh, I'm just too cute," she said, putting a finger to her lip. He sighed and gave her a quick kiss.

"Whatever dobe. Now come on; we said we'd meet Sakura at her place."

"Nah, go on ahead. I've got to talk to Haku-chan real fast before we all go out. I was thinking I might invite her." A quick hug and they were off on their own ways. Naruto skidded to a stop, though, as the strange boy from Suna stepped out in front of her.

"I forbid you from being with the Uchiha."

"How, when, what-" Then she got red. "Hey! How dare you spy on me! What gives you the right to order me around! You don't even know me." The red haired boy, Gaara, grinned at her. It gave her the creeps.

"Of course I do. You're my sister." Naruto almost chocked on her breath.

"Si, sister? What the heck are you talking about!" A waved a hand in the air calmly.

"You are the daughter of my parents, the Kazekage and his wife, our mother. She made me promise to protect you when she died." Naruto laughed hesitantly.

"Okay, whatever. I don't know what game you're playing at, and while I may not know who my father was, my mom was an Uzumaki, from the whirlpool village. This forehead protector," she said, motioning to her pouch, "was hers." Gaara frowned.

"I don't know what lies they have told you, but this…_Uzumaki_, is _not_ your mother." He jerked his head. "Come on; it's time you met your family."

"Like heck it is! Sexy jutsu!" A poof of smoke and a tall red haired girl appeared. Gaara raised an eyebrow.

"Is this supposed to do something other than make you appear a fool?" The girl winked, then spoke in a coy voice.

"Maybe, but then again, it distracted you, didn't it?" Gaara looked at her confused until the figure disappeared in smoke, leaving no one behind. Gaara sniffed in frustration. Such a base technique…and yet she had slipped away from him. He shrugged. There was still the exams. He would get her then. He left, heading back to his apartment. He was getting hungry.

.

.

.

"Yes, these will be a wonderful pick for your wife," Haku was saying. Then Naruto barreled into her.

"Haku-chan!" They both tumbled to the ground to the amusement of the man setting up his anniversary. "Sorry it's been so long, but guess what! I'm in the chunnin exams! They start tomorrow; isn't that great!" Haku laughed as she patted the younger girl on her head.

"Yes, that is Naruto-chan, but I need to finish up with this customer first you know." Naruto blushed, quickly getting off Haku as the man laughed good naturedly. A few more moments and he was out the door with a beautiful arrangement. Haku took off her apron and called out to the back of the store. "Yamanaka-san! I'm going to take my break now, okay?"

"Alright; I'll be up front in just a second." Sure enough a blonde woman appeared from a door behind the counter, brushing the accumulated dirt off of her hands. "Ah, a friend of yours, is she Haku?"

"Yes ma'am," she replied, smiling at the word. It still seemed odd sometimes that she had a friend. It was…an unusual experience for her. "Alright, take as long as you need, just be ready to work by the time my lunch comes around."

"Arigato, Yamanaka-san," Haku said, bowing, a bright smile punctuating both girls' faces as they left and went for a walk.

"So, the chunnin exams you say? Zabuza-san, he told me about his once…actually took him two exams before he passed." Naruto's eyes widened.

"Two whole exams? But, but Zabuza, he was, you know, really powerful, wasn't he?" Haku chuckled, a faraway look in her eyes.

"Yes, he was, but he wasn't very good with teams. He was always better at leading than working together. Me? I was good at taking orders…" She paused to wipe a tear away from her eye. "I'm sorry, but I still really miss him." Naruto patted her shoulder.

"I know; don't worry about it. He was like your dad, after all."

"And so much more…" They continued for several blocks before Haku looked up at Naruto's groan. "Naruto? What's wrong?"

"It's time for annoyance."

"Naruto-chan! I've been looking for you all day!" Naruto pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Not now, Kiba," she told the boy rushing up to her, hands waving, dog barking.

"Aw come on, don't be like that; I just wanna grab a bite to eat, that's all."

"Well, too bad! My team and I are already doing that." Kiba darkened.

"Naruto-"

"Don't say it! I don't care what you think; you lost your chance, and Sasuke took his. If you can't respect a girl's boundaries then I don't see why I should give you another one!" Kiba looked down, slowly unclenching his fists.

"It's not fair," he said. Haku's confusion finally won out.

"Umm….what's going on, Naruto? What's he talking about?"

"I liked you long before he did." Haku's eyebrows shot up. This _was_ interesting. "Even back in the academy I, I tried to get your attention, but you never, you never gave me a chance. I, I know I was stupid, but I'm a guy! Come on, please-"

"Shut UP!" Naruto was getting a little red in the face, eyes tearing up. "Maybe, maybe if you _hadn't _been so dumb it might've worked, but I already told you, I'm with _him_ now, so unless you've got something worthwhile to tell me, go away!" Kiba began stomping forward.

"Darn it Naruto! Why can't you-" He stopped, arching backwards slightly as he nearly walked into a needle. He had to cross his eyes to see the point, and that was preferable to seeing the glare of the girl holding it.

"I believe you were told to shove off; so _do_ it. I may not be a shinobi anymore, but I'm still fast enough to take you, so do what she said before I poke you full of holes." Kiba gulped, holding up his hands in surrender and backing away. Naruto almost felt bad for him, especially the way he slapped his face as he walked away around the corner.

"He gives you a lot of trouble?" Naruto blushed.

"Well, he kinda, um, well, he kissed me a couple weeks ago."

"What? Hold on, you _let_ him kiss you?"

"He took me by surprise!" Haku laughed. "This isn't funny! I went years with everyone hating me, then I finally get someone who does, and another guy decides that _that's_ when he should finally make a move. How the _heck_ I am supposed to see that coming?"

"Well, I guess I can't really blame you. He seems to be decently strong, though. _Would_ you have gone out with him?" Naruto stopped. She hadn't really thought about it before. Would she have said yes to Kiba if he'd asked her before she started dating Sasuke? He was funny, and unlike Sasuke he didn't hold himself back so much. He wasn't reserved, and he could be pretty funny…but then there were the times he joked about her being strong for a girl…

"Nope. Nu-uh no way." Haku rolled her eyes.

"Alright alright, fine. Let's keep going." A moment later… "Didn't you say something about eating with Sakura and Sasuke?"

"Ahh, that's right! We're eating out to relax before tomorrow. I actually came over to invite you to eat with us, but you have to be back by lunch and everything, and now we've gone so far out of the way, and that thing with Kiba happened-"

"Naruto!" The blonde quieted from her speed talking. "The flower shop does lunch a whole hour after normal businesses so that people like that guy earlier can use their lunch to set up surprises for their wives or whatever. I've got time."

"Phew, that's a relief. Still…" They both stopped then, sensing the same thing. Normally Naruto wouldn't have sensed it, but after what had happened only a half hour ago, she'd been on guard.

"Naruto, what is that?" She shivered.

"This creepy guy form Suna's been following me around, saying I'm his sister."

"What? His sister? I suppose it's _possible-_"

"It isn't," Naruto said firmly, surprising Haku with the vehemence of her declaration.

"Okay…but if you're an orphan, how would you know?"

"His name is Gaara," she said, motioning for them to walk again. "He's the son of the Kazekage. My mom was a shinobi of Konoha, and so was my dad. Jii-san told me so. This guy's just crazy. Even his chakra…now that I'm feeling for it, it just feels unstable and shifty." Haku nodded.

"I can't feel him _that_ well, but that sounds right. Still, there must be a reason that he's acting like this." She looked around. "Alright, let's loose him," she said, grabbing Naruto with one hand and signing with the other.

"Gah!" Was all Naruto could say as she was dragged into an ice mirror and shot around through and between them for what, in her nausea, felt like forever, but was only a few seconds. They landed on a roof top where Naruto lost what remained of her breakfast.

"Sorry about that, but it seemed like the best way to confuse him. I don't think he'll find us again for a while."

"Probably not, but next time, how about we just act like he's not there, eh? Besides, the exam's tomorrow. I can live with a stalker for that long…but I _am_ gonna tell jii-san about it tonight. He'd want to know."

"Hmm… hokage-sama would want to know, you're right, but I think I want to keep an eye on him, too. Luckily I have tomorrow off, so I think I'll tail you all in the exams."

"Hey, isn't that cheating?" Haku shrugged.

"I'm not a ninja; I'm not even from any of the villages. How is it cheating?" Naruto laughed.

"I love the way you think, but let's wait and see what happens, k? I, I don't want you to be in danger just 'cause some guy's being a creep."

"Naruto, my life has been full of danger, traveling with Zabuza-sama. I'll be fine…but since you're giving me _those_ eyes, fine, I'll wait and see first."

"Thanks," Naruto said, her gratitude genuine and radiating. Haku soaked it in joyfully. _Yes, Zabuza, I'm happy. As long as I have someone to protect, I can have a purpose. Thank-you, for freeing me, even though I miss being by your side. I miss you…_ A lone tear fell again from her face, wiped away with her shoulder as the two girls jumped back down to the ground outside the restaurant that team 7 was waiting at. _But thank-you for the new friends_. Then she followed Naruto in and ate.

.

.

.

"Alright, let's go." Kankuro nodded, stepping hesitantly outside. Baki had left some time ago, mystified by their news. They had told him months ago about their mother's escape, her having their sister, and them both dying. They had told him about Yashamaru, and how their father had manipulated him, all to turn Gaara into a weapon. Now he needed to 'clear his head,' and Gaara was still out. Now it was Temari and Kankuro, and as shinobi are in any village, they were being watched, and they needed to get a message out.

So, two figures walked away from their apartment, whispering as they went. And of course, the shinobi followed them. No one was left to watch the apartment…and a few minutes later, another figure left, shadowed in the darkness of a cloak, and they headed outside the village.

.

.

.

There was a small cabin, just outside Konoha. It didn't see very regular use, which came as no surprise due to rot and mold that permeated the place. This made it the ideal hiding place. Of course, the man winced at the smell even as he tried to comfort himself with those thoughts. He didn't like it, but this had been his way for years now. He was the unseen, the unknown; he was the dead. If only being dead also lead to having no sense of smell or taste… He jumped as there was a knock on the door, pulling out a kunai and set of shuriken.

"Uncle, it's me: Temari!" Yashamaru dropped his weapons and leaped to open the door, pulling Temari into a quick embrace.

"What are you doing here? It's too dangerous to see me. What if your father," he said, spitting at the word, "realizes I'm still alive?" Temari smiled hesitantly.

"Well, Kankuro and I kind of decided that we needed to tell you about what happened this week, and we found a way to keep from being followed; after all, since he hasn't used it, no one knows about Kankuro's puppets…" Yashamaru slapped his forehead.

"Temari, _never_ assume things like that. You're smarter than this."

"We tested it first, you know."

"Still-"

"We found Naruto." Yashamaru paused.

"You, _found_ her? Naruto?" Temari nodded.

"Yes, uncle. Mother is dead, we've confirmed that, but Naruto is still alive!" Yashamaru rocked on his heels before walking back into what was once the den of the small cabin and sitting down, Temari following him.

"Naruto…my sister's fourth child…my _niece_…" As he reconciled everything they thought they knew, Temari waited patiently. Finally he looked up.

"How sure are you?"

"The last time we saw Naruto, she had very distinct marks on her cheeks, like whiskers. Her birthday matches very closely with when Naruto would have been born. Her hair is the same color and shade. And she's an orphan."

"I see…you may be right. It seems it be right. But that was about the same time the kyuubi attacked Konoha, so lots of children could have been orphaned."

"There's only a couple days Naruto's birthday could have been listed as, and very few children were born on those days. We've checked as well as we can, and there are no other Naruto's in the village of Konoha, especially not with whisker marks on their cheeks." Yashamaru nodded slowly.

"Well, I guess there's nothing else for it, then." He stood up, shrugging off his cloak and walking over to a pack lying against the wall. "I should be relatively safe. After all, yours is the only genin team from Suna, and your father won't be here till around the third exam. No one here will even know what to look for, but I'll need to dye my hair anyways."

"Wait, what? Uncle, you can't do that! No one can know you're alive!" He waved a hand at her.

"Mah, it will be fine. Besides, we all knew that I would need to reveal myself again eventually. I can only look from the shadows for so long if I am to redeem myself."

"But uncle, what about Gaara? If, if he sees you, you know he'll kill you." The man sighed, standing up and taking Temari into his arms.

"Temari, I've been hiding for years now. I can hide from Gaara, too; he won't be looking for me, after all, and I want to see my last niece, my sister's fourth child. I need to see her, too."

"Alright, but, but be careful, okay?"

"Of course; of course."

* * *

**So, who figured out it was Yashamaru, eh? Who what did yawl think of Temari and Kankuro using his puppets to sneak out like that?**

**Gaara is pretty territorial, isn't he? What do you think he's going to do during the exams, I wonder? Let me know what you think will happen in the review section! I want to see all of your creative juices flowing!**

**Yawl have a good weekend, later!**

**(next update soon!**


	17. Chuunin Exams: Relying on Yourself!

**Alright, on the bright side, my reviews gave me two reasons to update quickly, and fortunatly I had the time to do so. I got more reviews on this last chapter than other other previous to it! YAY!**

**As things stand, I have, at this moment, 120 total reviews (review #100 goes to lilanimefan247), 167 faves and 175 alerts. Thank-you all for reading this story, but I _would _like to hear from a few more of you than reviews. If every person who read this story left ONE review next chapter, I would more than double my reviews, and that just feels kinda weird to be able to say that.**

**Okay, now the other reason. I want to start off by saying that I appreciate and consider every review that I get, from the shortest, 'cool' to the longest critique. That said, I did toy around with pairings for a while, but I have decided, as I based the premise for my story on another persons, I'm going to honor their decision on the Naruto pairing which, though I know several of you will not be happy to hear it, is Sasuke. I'd rather this didn't keep you from continuing to read, but I guess I'll kind of understand. After all, if I was reading a story and it turned out to be SasuHina (my most hated pairing) I would probably stop as well. That said, new chapter is here, and I hope you all enjoy it! **

**notice-ff style, disclaimer no jutsu!**

* * *

"Ah, come on Anko-chan! Just a little hint?" Anko shook her head firmly.

"Nahuh Naruto, nope. I'm not allowed to give you hints about the exam. If you're not ready, then you're not ready and deserve to stay a genin." Naruto pouted at her sister figure, turning to face her old sensei.

"Iruka sensei, surly you'll tell me, right? Your favorite student?" She gave him the best look he could. Unfortunately for her, he was dating Anko, and somehow you just become immune to such cuteness next to the snake mistress. Instead he chuckled and ruffled the hair on the top of her head.

"Sorry Naruto, but Anko chan's right. Besides, I'm sure you'll do fine." Naruto crossed her arms, trying to intensify the pout, but that didn't last as Iruka slid his unfinished bowl of miso ramen in front of her.

"Oh, ramen!" She exclaimed, digging into it for several seconds before pausing, chopsticks halfway to her mouth. She turned and pointed them at Iruka accusingly.

"That's not fair," she said. All she got was a chuckle as Iruka handed Anko another stick of dango they'd bought before heading to Ichiraku's.

"There's another three bowls waiting for you if you get through the exams without trying to sneak information out of the instructors or anyone else you think could give you 'hints.'" Naruto's eyes lit up.

"Well heck yeah! Besides, I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I'm gonna be hokage someday, so why should I need any help like that! Bring it!" The three laughed and chatted for the next half hour before Iruka walked them back to Naruto's home, each of them giving her a hug before heading home themselves. For the dango, Iruka got a very _loooog_ goodnight kiss.

Saying good night to everyone Naruto got through the business of brushing her long hair and brushing her teeth, also tucking in an exhausted Konohamaru. Jii-san was finishing up some paperwork before he headed to bed himself, but he'd already gotten out Naruto's gear and set it out for the coming day.

"Night Jii-san," she said, hugging him from behind as he sat in his chair. He patted her arms that were wrapped around him, wishing her a good night as well, content smile on his face. As Naruto head to bed, however, she paused in the doorway.

"Jii-san?"

"Yes Naruto?"

"…Nothing. Good-night."

"Sleep well, and good luck tomorrow."

"Thanks." It was silly anyways. There was no way that creepy red head was telling the truth.

.

.

.

The next morning Naruto skipped along to her meeting place for the chuunin exams. To say she was excited as an understatement. She was ecstatic! Granted, it was rare that she wasn't excited by anything involving shinobi besides lectures and written exams, but this was a _real_ ninja exam, like what Kakashi sensei had given them, so there was no _way_ she'd have to worry about a written exam!

So caught up was she in her thoughts, she never noticed the multiple shadows that followed her path. She probably wouldn't have overly cared, either, since she was getting used to that Gaara kid trailing her. She knew how to get rid of him if she really wanted to, so she didn't think it was a problem. She wouldn't have expected the new shadow, and neither did they expect the other shadow, until they found themselves with a kunai held to their throat.

"Alright Gaara, why are you following Naruto-chan?" The man held up his hands as a peace sign.

"You must have mistaken me, madam. My name is Amaru and I don't know any Gaara." Haku scoffed.

"Please; Naruto told me about the red haired shinobi from Suna that was following her. Red isn't a common color here, and you expect me to believe you're following her for some other reason?" 'Amaru' mentally sweat dropped.

"Actually, I thought she'd looked very much like my sister's daughter; I lost them years ago, and it was nice to relive the memories for a moment. Besides, I don't think I really look like someone from…it was Suna, right? Too hot there for me. I _am_ new, but I was going to start looking for the hospital in a little bit. I've had some medic training, you see, and Konoha seems a very beautiful and peaceful place to set up shop, but I need to know Konoha's laws on the matter. This Naruko-"

"Naru_t_o."

"Yes, Naruto, as I said, only made my think of my sister and niece." He breather carefully. "I don't suppose you'd be willingly to let go of me now?" Haku huffed, slowly pulling away her kunai.

"Fine; I'll admit you sure don't dress like you're from Suna, and you don't have a headband, either. You'd be wearing one if you were here for the exams like this Gaara is." She sighed. "I guess he's not following her this morning. Come on, I'll take you to the hospital." Amaru bowed in gratitude to the young girl.

"Arigato, shinobi-san." Haku reddened slightly.

"I'm no shinobi; I sell flowers." Amaru cocked his head to the side in confusion."

"But then why are you acting like one?" She glared at him. For a girl who couldn't be more than 16, tops, she sure knew how to glare at one.

"That's my business, not let's get you about yours." _Hmm…seems my niece has some very interesting friends. Well, I may not be able to tail her now, but if the chuunin exams are anything like what I remember joining up with the medics may be a good way to still get close to her. Lots of people get hurt in these exams…I hope she'll be okay._

.

.

.

Naruto and the rest of team 7 strolled along to the academy building where the chuunin exams were starting. Sakura leaned closer, talking quietly to ask her teammate a question.

"Do you think that Gaara boy will try anything during the exams?" Naruto looked down darkly and shrugged.

"If he's stalked me every day he's been in the so far, it only makes sense he'll do something. I just don't know what." She looked at her teammate, confusion evident.

"Why though? Why is he doing this?"

"I, I don't know, Naruto." The team continued walking in silence. There was a little incident on the second floor, and a weird guy in a green jumpsuit tried to challenge Sasuke to a fight for the honor of dating Sakura. Naruto winced and Sasuke held in a chuckle, both missing Sakura's sad face, but the conflict was quickly resolved as Sakura just said she would date who should wanted, and if anyone was stupid enough to fight over it, she didn't think she'd care to date either of them. The boy, Lee, immediately began crying, shouting at how youthful an opinion Sakura had before his Sensei, Gai, he said his name was, appeared, cheering to the same. Team 7 slowly backed away around a corner before the two spandex clad ninja noticed them leaving.

"Between Gaara and Lee, and think I'd pick Gaara," Sakura said.

"I don't know. He wasn't the one stalking you, after all."

"Hnn. We'll beat them all soon enough," Sasuke replied, "so why worry about either?"

"Heck yeah! We'll kick butt!"

Things were fine then until they reached the testing room. There Kiba was waiting to greet Naruto. Sasuke pivoted slightly to put himself between the two. Kiba began to open his mouth before Hinata grabbed his arm.

"Kiba-kun, shouldn't we plan out what we're going to do?"

"Eh? We don't even know what's going on though! Anything we plan now could be a waste of time," he said.

"Perhaps you should better consider that," Shino said. "After all, we know it's a competition with all the other teams and villages, so we at least know to study out opponents, including Naruto's team." Once again Kiba prepared an angry retort, but that was when a white haired teen walked.

"You might want to listen to your buddy there, Inuzuka. The more Intel you can get, the better your chance of winning."

"Oh, and I suppose you're some kind of expert, eh?"

"Hahah, well, of a sort." He held up a deck of cards. "Name's Kabuto; I've taken the exam 7 times and everything I've learned about every shinobi here is on these cards. Want to know anything in particular?"

"Neji Hyuuga and Gaara of the Sand," Sasuke said.

"Um, I, I'd rather not, Sasuke." Sasuke looked at Naruto in confusion.

"Hn? Why not, dobe? This could give us a good advantage on our strongest opponents." Naruto shuffled her feet.

"I, I kinda promised Anko one-chan and Iruka-sensei that I'd do the test without that kind of thing." Everyone stared at her for a second before face faulting.

"What! But they know how important that type of thing is for fighting enemy shinobi."

"Well, well they promised me ramen!" Who would have thought a whole room full of hardened shinobi could all face fault together…besides the one Akimichi in the room. The floor barely survived as it was, and adding Choji to the mix could have ended in disaster. Though Sakura and Sasuke both tried to sway her, Naruto would not budge on the point, and before it was resolved the test instructor came in.

"Ah well, too late now," Kabuto said. "Well, good luck guys."

"Hn."

"Yeah, thanks!"

"You too, Kabuto-san." They were given numbers as they approached the desks in the room and moved to sit in their own places. Naruto's insides shifted as she found herself next to Hinata. Maybe fate was playing nice?

"H, hi, Hinata-chan. How've you been?" Hinata, never one to be hostile, gave her a nod and tried to turn away politely.

"Ah, hey now, come on, can't we, can't we still be friends." Hinata turned slowly back to the blonde.

"I, I wish we could be, Naruto-chan, but you were the one who taught me to fight for what I w, want, and that's what I have to, to do. I, I won't lose to you in this. I'm sorry," she finished, looking away, a small tear in her eye.

"Me too," Naruto said quietly. "Me too." They turned their attention back to the proctor and Naruto began to panic realizing that it was a written test after all. That just wasn't fair! How could any kind of written test apply to being a ninja for real? Even worse, the problems were so hard she had no idea how to do a single one, and there was no way Hinata would help her here, not anymore. They used to have a system when they were in the academy. No that Hinata helped her cheat, she just helped point her in the right direction. Naruto mostly just needed to get started in order to get the work done right. Too bad the test was half over.

It was then that Naruto began to notice the dust on her desk moving rather oddly, as if it was deliberate. Her eyes widened as she perceived the writing that was appearing before her, giving a list of the question numbers and their answers. Her eyes narrowed. _Wait a second; that's not dust; it's sand!_ She turned in her chair to glare at the red headed Gaara. Sure enough he was staring back at her, one hand hovering over the desk, the fingers flicking slightly. He _was_ controlling the sand on her desk! Why was he doing that? Did he think that she trusted him or something just because he said she was his sister? Fat chance!

As if she wasn't distracted enough, she felt something furry brush up against her leg. She looked down just in time to see Akamaru jump up into her lap, then up onto the desk before her. He wagged his tail and stared at her expectantly. She grumbled and started giving him an ear rub. He quietly yipped contentedly, puffing out his chest. Naruto squinted at him, pushing the fur on his chest up, revealing, in ink, the answers to the test, again along with their numbers. She turned the other way and saw Kiba smiling at her, and he gave her a thumbs up.

Naruto sniffed at him, then turned around and looked back and forth between Akamaru and the sand on her desk. This was definitely cheating, no other way to look at it. Other people had already gotten kicked out so the proctors were being serious when they said they were checking for it. With Hinata she was sure they could have helped each other without being detected, but on Akamaru and the sand, it was there for anyone to see. She wasn't sure if it had been seen or not, but more than likely it had been. She thought that perhaps the only reason she hadn't been kicked out yet was because she obviously had written down any answers. Besides, this may not have been exactly what Iruka and Anko meant, but it followed the same principle. No, she couldn't cheat to get through.

Shaking her head, almost wondering if she was insane, she picked up Akamaru, giving him a final pat before setting him on the floor, then she picked up her paper and moved it to cover the sand. There was still almost half the test left before the tenth question, and now that she had in her mind a couple of the answers, she could work backwards and figure out some of this.

Sure enough, when Ibiki, the proctor, called for pencils to be laid down she'd completed two based on the answers she'd remembered matching from Kiba and Gaara (why _was_ he helping her?) and used that math to solve two more. She was feeling fairly confident, a small smirk on her face, hands behind her head.

"If you miss the tenth question, you can never become a chuunin!" _That_ got Naruto's attention. Surely they wouldn't? It had been hard enough on the other nine…but she was a shinobi, wasn't she? Should she really be scared of a little risk? She looked around as several others backed out, afraid of losing their chance at advancing. Did she really need to make it this time? Was it important enough to risk always been a genin? And what about her dream to become hokage?

She looked at Hinata next to her. She had even more to lose than Naruto. Her father always pushed her too hard, always expected more of her. What would he say if Hinata became a genin forever? And yet she wasn't backing down, was she. Naruto smiled. Even as a rival Hinata had so much still to teach her. She stood up and slammed her hand down on her desk.

"You think a little thing like that is going to scare us?" Several leaf genin sweat dropped. _What is she _doing_?_ "So what if I'm a genin forever, I'm still gonna become hokage." She turned around. "And you guys! What are you, chicken? I know someone taking this exam right now, and she has more to lose than any of us by missing this question, and she's still takin' it, so I'm gonna take it too, even if it means I'm a genin forever!" Ibiki smiled, giving one last call for drop outs before continuing. Naruto smiled at Hinata as she sat down. The other girl had a small blush. She knew Naruto had been talking about her.

"Thank-you," she said out of the side of her mouth, still not looking at her once friend.

"Heheh, well, it's true; it's why _I_ decided to keep going." Hinata blushed again.

"I'm…glad I was able to help, but, but it doesn't change anything."

"Yeah…I know…"

"Alright then, since no one else is leaving…you all pass!"

"NANI!"

.

.

.

Naruto wanted to laugh as Ibiki explained the two portions of the test, and she wanted to slap Iruka and Anko for making her promise to not cheat…sort of. Okay, so she knew it was her fault for that part, but still! She really wanted to laugh, though, when Ibiki went over the reason for the tenth question. It was eerily similar to what she'd been saying, about being willingly to give up everything. That _was_ what being a ninja was about, being able to put it all on the line for the sake of the mission. Not that Naruto ever planned on dying, of course, but it was good to keep in mind. That was when Anko came flying through the window, throwing out kunai to support a banner with her name, and the words 'Second Tests Proctor.' Then what did she do? Just what she taught Naruto; struck a pose.

"Alright you maggots, this is no time for celebrating! I'm Mitarashi Anko, proctor for the second portion of the chuunin exam!" Everyone stared at her oddly before Naruto shrieked out.

"Ahh! Nee-chan! What are you doing here?" Anko smirked.

"Oh, did I forget to mention this? Heheh, oops." She grinned evilly. "Pranks on you, Naruto-chan." Naruto glared at her for a few seconds before rolling her eyes.

"Great; this next parts gonna hurt."

"Hahaha! You betcha it will! Hey…wait a second…" She turned to the scarred proctor for the first exam. "Ibiki, why are there so many still here? Your test was too easy. You must be getting soft." He smiled slightly.

"Or, maybe we have a batch of candidates this year."

"Eh, they don't look it. [Anko nee-chaaaaan….] Well, by the time I'm done with them, I'll cut their numbers into less than half!"

"Less, less than half? Naruto, are you sure this is your sister?" Naruto had her head on the desk bemoaning their misfortune."

"Yeah…well, sorta. She's been helping jii-san look after me since I was a kid."

"Hey wait a second…isn't she one that you, um, you know, back in the academy before graduation?" Anko blushed, as she overheard the conversation and chose not to give Naruto the chance to respond.

"ALRIGHT! You maggots have had it easy long enough, but now that you're under my jurisdiction that changes, effective immediately! Go to your squad leaders to see where we're meeting first thing in the morning."

"We're doomed," Naruto cried, and some of the other genin found themselves wishing they had quit when they had the chance."

.

.

.

"Well, that was unexpected, but imoutu doesn't seem like she's liking the idea for the second exam. She seems pretty tough, so why is she scared of that other lady?" Kankurō laughed.

"Temari, did you hear what she called her?"

"Eh?"

"_Nee_-chan, _nee_-chan. Whoever she is, Naruto thinks a lot of her, so much so that she's like a sister." Temari waited a few seconds.

"Aaaand?"

"Huh?"

"You sounded like you were going to make a point, so what's the point?"

"That was the point."

"What was?"

"Being a sister."

"What does that have to do with it?"

"…that's right, you _are_ the sister." A tick appeared on Temari's forehead.

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Ah, nothing," Kankurō said, holding up his hands defensively as he backed away, "except this _does_ kind of prove my point." Temari paused, taking stock of the huge metal fan in her hands and its being in the ready to swing position, then Kankurō's somewhat frightened face. She grunted, putting her fan away again.

"Whatever; let's just get back to Baki-sensei. Come on, Gaara." She turned to look back at their brother who was walking very slowly and with one hand over his eye. "Gaara, what are you doing?"

"So difficult to keep it straight," he muttered,

"Keep what straight." He glared at his siblings with his spare eye.

"Keeping track of our sister and walking at the same time. She…moves so fast."

"Gaara…are you stalking her?" He grunted.

"If I don't, that Uchiha will put his hands on her again."

"Whoa, wait, she's dating the Uchiha? Man, that's crazy!" Gaara growled.

"She's too trusting; it will kill her, and he will be the first to abuse her trust, foolish girl." Temari stepped toward him cautiously.

"Gaara, it's not always bad to trust." He laughed.

"Hahaha! You taught me better than that years ago, dear sister. I tolerate you, I use you, but I do not _trust_ you. You use me just as I use you, and one day my usefulness will end, or yours will, and I shall make good on my promise." Temari turned away before Gaara could see the tear fall down her eye. If only he could understand…"

.

.

.

"Yeah, now I'm gonna kick nee-san's butt," Naruto was saying. "That was dirty; she knew I'd think like that, and now I almost lost us the first exam!" Sakura shook her head wearily.

"Naruto…maybe they thought you'd actually take it like they meant it, and not try to _pry_. Prying is different than what was going on in that exam."

"Well, I don't care! That was still low and-"

"Ah, you there, you're genin right? Would you mind a quick d-rank? I promise I'll pay." The three genin paused as a red haired man holding a large sign was stepping out of a doorway. "It might not be much, but once business gets going I should be able to provide a discount on my services to you three."

"Huh? What kind of services? Who are you? And what the heck mission are you talking about?" The man sweat dropped.

"Ah, yes of course, how rude of me. My name is Amaru, and I'm setting up a new medical clinic here. I'd appreciate it if you three would help me move around a couple of things, and maybe help me get this sign up. I just finished drying it, but it's very heavy and I can't find a ladder."

"Oh, of course sir, we'll get right on it; come on Naruto!" Sakura grabbed the blond by the shoulder and the two balanced the sign between them before walking up the side of the building to place to sign in position. "There; how's that sir?" He smiled kindly.

"Perfect, thank-you. Now I just a few things taken care of inside, if that's okay?" Sasuke grunted.

"Might as well. We need to do something to stay limber for tomorrow. Two whole days of nothing can't be good for us keeping in shape."

"Thank-you," Amaru said, smiling broadly. "If you three ever need anything, come straight here. I'll take care of you as best I can, and at a discount, like I said." So an hour later team 7 finished moving the last of the benches around on the inside, the floor swept and mopped, walls clean, lights working. All in all, it looked very nice. Amaru even set aside a few spots to hold plants.

"I find that happy plants make for happy people," he said. Naruto scratched her head.

"Okay, whatever. Need anything else?" He chuckled and shook his head.

"No, not really." He paused. "Actually, now that I think about, you know a girl named Haku, yes?"

"What? How do you know Haku?" Naruto's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Was he from mist, come to kill her friend for being associated with Zabuza? Did she need to report him to jii-san?"

"Ah, well, I actually saw you three earlier today. I was on my way to the hospital and saw Naruto here. You…reminded me of my sister her daughter. I, lost them many years ago, so when I saw you, I ended up following you for a few blocks." He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. "Sorry about that, but your friend Haku mistook me for someone from Suna she said was following you. I just wanted to extend that discount to her as an apology for bothering you this morning."

"Oh, uh, I, I guess I can tell her." She stared at him hard. "You look kinda familiar; you been to the leaf before?" He chuckled.

"Oh no, I've never been here before, but a friend told me what a nice place it was, so I took a chance." He bowed deeply. "Thank-you again, but if I understand correctly you have chuunin exams going on. As a doctor I advise a good night's rest and good meal with a lot of carbohydrates. They're good for your energy after all, and I understand that the second portion of the chuunin exam tends to be the most intensive."

"Thank-you, Amaru-san," Sakura replied, bowing to him herself. "We'll be sure to let our friends know you're new and just set up. Hopefully your business will do well."

"Thank-you. Good luck you three," he said as the left, waving good-bye. "Good luck…Naruto-chan. Be careful." He closed the door and locked it, turning off the lights as well. He needed to think for a little while, and prepare for the coming week.

.

.

.

"Yeah, and he seemed to mean it, too, so I thought I'd let you know, even though you don't much about being a shinobi anymore." Naruto paused. "Why were you following me, Haku-chan?" Haku looked down a little guilty.

"Zabuza-sama allowed me to have a new purpose, and a friend. I, don't like the idea of someone hurting you, so I wanted to, I wanted to keep that other boy from possibly hurting you." Naruto grunted.

"I guess, but still, you don't need to worry about me. I've got enough skill on my own, and jii-san mad sure he always had a way to know if I actually in danger in the village." She tapped her mother's headband. "He put a seal on the inside that activates whenever my chakra output goes below a certain level. I have enough that it isn't hard to broadcast a decent amount while I'm still in the village. Anko-chan and Kakashi-sensei managed to convince him that it would be worse to have me broadcasting chakra outside the village than to have the seal turned off when I'm outside the village." Haku nodded, surprised.

"I…guess that makes sense. It seems same enough."

"Yeah, but it's annoying how over protective he can be," Anko said as she grudgingly slurped noodles. Iruka grunted slight disapproval, but he was eating dango, so he wasn't being very talkative. They had agreed to eat whatever the other told them two for a week, and both were regretting it so far. Neither had thought to let the other eat their _own_ favorite food yet. "I mean, for Naruto it's only a _little_ chakra, but for some of us it's like having a whistle blow in our ears all day, if you're close to her for very long."

"Yeah, I know, but I'm _trying_ to keep it down Anko nee-chan. You know how hard that is for me!" Anko waved a hand disinterestedly.

"I know, I know. I'm just saying. It's pretty weird to have all these people following you all of a sudden, though. I think I prefer Haku keeping an eye on you. I would too, but we're not allowed to get involved during the exams unless it's absolutely called for." The genin nodded.

"Yeah, we know. Don't worry, I'll be careful. If something bad happens I'll go ahead and activate the seal, okay?" Iruka nodded as he eyed Anko's ramen longingly.

"Sounds good," he said. Anko noticed his gaze, looked at the dango box next to him, back to her ramen, then over to his dango again.

"Yeah, good idea," she said as she lightly grabbed the two dishes and switched them. Iruka's face immediately lit up and he kissed her right there, much to her surprise.

"Ahh! Iruka-ku…uummmmm…"

"Eh, gross!"

* * *

**First off, I wanted to thank Codenamed-Bolt for providing me with that list of family honorifics several months ago. As you can tell, I had to use it in this chapter. Does anyone know the honorific for neice, though? That would be useful.**

**So, I thought this was a pretty decent chapter. I manged to squeeze in from Anko-Iruka fluff. I just imagined them trying to find ways to make the other see the 'evils' of the other's fave food. I think they've come to an understanding now, though, don't you? :D**

**Hope ya'll liked it, please remember to review and all that. Let me know what you liked/disliked about the chapter. Take care all!**


	18. Enter: the Forest of Death

**Yes, it's a little short, but I hit a block for the next bit of story. I know the general bit that happens next, just couldn't start it so while I have the chance I'm going to this posted.**

**So, it's the 2nd exam, of course, and Naruto and the crew are going to run into some trouble. We all know that Gaara's 'stalking' her, so what's going to happen.**

**reviews are welcome; flames will be used as compost.**

**notice-ff style, disclaimer no jutsu!**

* * *

It was a beautiful, bright, sunny, and cloudless day. It was warm and inviting, and many hopeful genin were eagerly awaiting the start of the second portion of the chuunin exams. Few were more excited, if apprehensive, than team sevens Naruto. Having a better knowledge of the inner workings of Anko's mind she was warier than most (certainly much more wary than she'd be if someone _else_ was in charge of the exam but still excited to advance to chuunin.

"Alright runts, here's where we'll be doing the next portion of the exams, Konoha's 44th battle training zone. Of course," she chuckled, "we like to call Konoha's very own Forest of Death!" There was an eerie shiver that passed through most of the crowd. The name was, after all, quite ominous. Naruto just cringed.

"For this exam, the goal is the get to the center, with your team intact, and a special surprise!" She gestured to a tent a little ways away. "Each team will be given a scroll in the booth over there, like these two." She took two different scrolls out of one of her large pockets. Your goal will be to obtain which ever scroll you don't have and bring them both to the tower.

"That means that, at most, only half of us will make it," Sakura whispered to her team mates, anxiousness keen in her voice.

"Yeah, well, I'm sure we'll be fine," Naruto whispered back. "I'm just glad Anko nee-chan isn't going to be a part of the exam after all!"

"Okay, and as a final step before entering, each of you needs to sign one of these wavers"

"Huh? What waiver," someone asked. Anko chuckled.

"It's a waiver taking away Konoha's responsibility for your death." Several people gasped and others began yelling…until Anko gave them the glare of death that her enemies, and also Naruto, the hokage, and especially Iruka, knew very well.

"It's called the forest of death for a reason: it's dangerous! You have to realize _now_ that people can die in these exams, and especially that _you_ can die as a shinobi. This may be the first time you've actually put your life on the line, but it will by no means be the last. If you're not willing to put it all on the line for your team and village, you need to quit being a shinobi _now_." She looked around on the now somber crowd before smiling again.

"Alright, now that that's been said we'll pass these out to your teams and you'll hand them in at the booth when you get your scrolls."

"Guys, are we going to be okay," Sakura asked. Naruto looked at her, concerned.

"You alright, Sakura-chan? I mean, it's not like we haven't risked our lives before." Sakura shook her head.

"It's not that; it's just, well, yeah we've faced death before, but think about all the people we're going to be fighting. They'll all be desperate to win, to do anything they have to. Zabuza and Haku? They were different. Better, but different. Desperation drives people to do crazy things." Naruto scratched her head.

"Well yeah, I guess so but we're a team, aren't we? We can take on anything that comes our way. Between my e and you, girl power will win over!" Sakura couldn't help but laugh, gratitude in her eyes for the lightness her teammate exuded. She made all their burdens light. Even Sasuke managed to smile.

"Alright then," he said, "are we ready?" Naruto turned her wide grin to him.

"Believe it!"

So they signed the waivers and turned it in their get their scroll. Before they left for their gate assignment, Anko grabbed her shoulder.

""Hey, be careful, alright? And watch out for that Gaara kid; I can almost smell the bloodlust coming off of him." Naruto nodded.

"Don't worry; all the pranks we've pulled, I can avoid him when it comes up. Don't worry, I won't fight him." The Kunoichi patted the girls shoulder gratefully.

"Alright; good luck sis."

Gaara watched the exchange with disgust as team seven was given their gate assignment. His sister was being foolish, trusting these people. No one was trustworthy; no loved anyone but themselves. He would teach her better. Though wouldn't that be expecting her to trust him? Why should she trust him that he would keep his word to mother? This was trust, wasn't it?

Gaara shook his head. No, it was survival. Working together nothing could stop them. Trust could extend that far, yes? Of course. When it was survival, meting out their existence on the world, they could trust each other. He would show her that.

Shaking his head again to get rid of the lingering headache, the sand siblings took off to their gate and awaited the signal to begin, Temari and Kankurō following their younger brother's lead as he immediately took off in the direction team 7 was in. Not they knew where he was headed just yet.

.

.

.

"Okay, now that we're a little ways in, we need to come up with a plan." Naruto and Sakura nodded, the later shivering over the scream they'd just heard.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Naruto replied, though she was itching to get going and finish the test. She was full of confidence that they could get it done in the first day; just forget the other 4!

"We know from the start that there's 13 and 13, heaven and earth. Most teams will probably attack first and ask later, but _some_ will try and play it safe, seeing what scroll the other team has to save energy for fights they may actually _need_ to do." He looked over at Naruto.

"How many spare scrolls do you have?"

"Eh?"

"How many scrolls do you have?"

"Ummm…give me a sec…" Naruto pulled off her pack and fished into one of her pockets.

"Looks like, six scrolls." Sasuke picked up three of them, holding them up.

"We can use _these_ as distraction," he said, "for any of the teams that ask first. We may even be able to lull them into false security if they have an earth scroll, and tail them before attacking them at night."

"Wah? But that would take forever!" Sakura rolled her eyes.

"It's just a backup plan Naruto. Hopefully we get a scroll before then and can use our 'fake' scrolls to pawn off an unwanted attention." Naruto pouted for a moment.

"Whatever. You guys can start making the scrolls," she said, pulled out a set of ink and brushes. "I need to use the ladies room." She wandered off behind a tree, grumbling and 'psycho snakes' and 'wasting time.' Her teammates rolled their eyes as they set to work. A few moments later Naruto came out from behind the tree.

"Whew, that felt good! Are you guys ready to go aga-" Before she could finish her statement, Sasuke flew across the gap, slamming his fist into her face. She impacted against the tree, groaning as she settled on her rear.

"Ow, hey, what was that for?" Sakura looked on bewildered.

_But, but Sasuke and Naruto are…why did he hit her?_ Sakura moved to stop Sasuke from further injuring her friend, but Sasuke held out an arm.

"That's not Naruto-chan."

"Eh?" Sakura looked between her two teammates, confused for a moment, eyes widening when she saw what Sasuke had from the start.

"Where's Naruto? Tell us now!"

"What," questioned the fake. "What are you guys talking about?" The ninja froze in the sight of Sasuke's frozen gaze.

"No tricks looser. If you don't tell us where she is, I'll tear you limb from limb." Sakura looked at him in awe. _He, he really does love her, doesn't he…_ She looked down sadly. _I, I wish someone would feel like that for me._ Just then the henged shinobi switched back to their true form, wearing a dark yellow body suit and mouthpiece.

"I, I, she's alright, I swear!" He had planned on waiting until he could knock them out and steal the scroll, or fighting for it, but this Uchiha (he could see the crest on his sleeve) was going to kill him. He could feel it. "She's, she's just over here!" Sasuke held up a kunai as she shifted to keep himself between the rain nin and Sakura as she moved to where he claimed their teammate was being kept.

"Naruto!" Sakura moved quickly to untie and ungag her fellow Kunoichi as Sakura spared a glace from the corner of his eye to check on her.

"You see, she's just fine! Now I'll leave-" he was interrupted in the midst of his movement as Sasuke sped in front of him.

"I don't think so," he said, slicing forward and drawing blood from the other nin's chest.

"Gah," he cried out, jumping back. "What the heck! I gave her back; what are you doing?" Sasuke's sharingan showed as he attacked again.

"None of us can let up for even a second in this place, and you attacked my teammate. At the very least, getting rid of you will lower the competition."

"No, no wait! I don't even have a scroll!"

"But your team does."

"But, but it's a heaven scroll! What you do have?" The rain nin revealed the secret in a last ditch effort to get away. This Uchiha was too fast, and he could see the other nin coming in to support him. Three on one was not good, especially when he'd had no time to set up a good genjutsu. Sasuke smirked, and the shinobi waved between hope and dread.

"So, heaven scroll, eh? So that means you need an earth scroll." He lifted his kunai. "So do we." His opponent smiled warily.

"So, no need to fight, right?" Naruto laughed, having overheard the last bit as she and Sakura caught up.

"No need to fight? If you guys get an earth scroll before we do, it's that much more work we have to do."

_Crap…_

"Shadow clone jutsu!"

…_double crap._

An few minutes later the rain nin was unconscious and bruised. Sakura had to drag her off of him before Sasuke started tying him up.

"We don't _need_ to kill him," he'd said. "And if his team has to waste time finding him, they'll be out of our way until we find a scroll, and then busy distracting other teams once we do." So they tied him up after Naruto vented her anger on him for having seen her while she was doing her business. Sasuke made a mental note to be _very_ careful on future missions not to walk around haphazardly. He liked his face the way it was. After putting some distance between them and the tied up nin, Sasuke signaled another pause.

"What is it _this_ time?" Sasuke motioned for Naruto to calm down.

"I was thinking, some groups here may very well be infiltration type teams. Such a team would have been perfect for the first part of the exam, like that last guy we fought."

"Speaking of which, how did you know it wasn't me?" Sasuke blushed. He was _not_ about to mention that there was a cute freckle just behind her left eye the rain nin had missed.

"I, um, it just felt wrong," he said lamely. Naruto and Sakura both raised their eyebrows, but each kept quiet. Naruto didn't want to call him out because of Sakura's feelings, and Sakura didn't want either of them to think she'd been spying.

"So, Sasuke-kun, what do you think we should do." Sasuke grinned, blush dying down.

"We come up with a password," he said simply. "That way if any of us are ever separated for a time, we can ask for the password and be assured it's really one of our teammates." Both girls nodded…until he recited the password. Naruto cringed, wondering what she'd done to him to deserve the torture of such a crazy password. Before she had a chance to really complain, however, there was an explosion and they had to scatter. Naruto looked around frantically as she evaded the explosion, but there was no sight of Sasuke and Sakura. She slapped her forehead. They must have hidden, just like they did back when they took the bell test. She, instead, had hit the trees, the explosion pushing her even further through the air.

"Great, now I have to get back to them and try and remember that stupid password that that stupid teme had to come up and with and…" Further words were cut off as a shadow loomed over her. Slowly Naruto looked up, one word coming to mind.

_Crap…Anko nee-chaaaaan!_ Okay, three words.

.

.

.

Temari felt the air tense and saw a change in Gaara's eyes. She almost gasped as he suddenly picked up the pace.

"He, hey, Gaara, wait up!"

"Keep up," was his only reply.

"Hey come on man, what's the rush?" This time Gaara spared a glance back for his brother, left eye still closed.

"Our sister just got swallowed by a snake." A shiver worked its way down both his siblings back, and they sped up.

"Lead the way." Gaara rolled his open eye at their antic of actually caring, but at least he knew they wouldn't slow him down. He went full speed. Any slower and he might not be able to keep his promise.

.

.

.

Naruto gasped for air as she clawed at the inside of the snake. Nothing she did made a difference. She wasn't even scratching it! In retrospect, she supposed it wasn't Anko who put the snakes in. After all, those snakes wouldn't attack Naruto. They all knew better; Anko would kill them if they hurt Naruto. A small viper learned that the hard way when Anko was introducing her to some of her favorite snakes when she was seven.

The throat squeezed her even tighter, forcing the air out of her lings.

"I'm-not-gonna-die-like-this!" She pushed with all her strength at the throat's wall, propping her legs up to give her space and brought her hands together.

"Shadow clone-waaah!" Sunlight spilled in as a gap appeared in the snake's esophagus and Naruto came tumbling out. Agh, bleag, this is disgusting! It's gonna take forever to get this out of my hair!" She paused in her ranting as she realized she wasn't alone, and that _someone_ had to 'ave cut the snake open. Her gaze drifted upwards to two smiling faces and one stoic one.

"Hey, how's it going sis?"

.

.

.

"Ah! What are you guys doing here? Wait a second…you're calling me that now too!" Naruto ran her hands back and forth through her hair in frustration. "What is _up_ with you guys! I'm not your sister! I was born here in Konoha, my was from Uzu and married my dad here in Konoha; I've been here all my life!" Kankurō raised his hands defensively.

"Whoa, slow down. We're not saying you weren't born in Konoha. We know you were. Mom ran away back she was pregnant with you-"

"Stop trying to sell me on this story! I know its bull, so leave me alone!" Temari and Kankurō looked at each other, both at a loss.

"It doesn't matter what they've told you," Gaara said. "I still remember mother holding you in her arms and making me promise to protect you. Were it not so, I would have killed you already, even with the death you share that body with." Naruto, back turned to the sand sibs as she'd been preparing to leave and find her team, stiffened, head slowly turning around.

"Wh, wh, what did you say?" Gaara lazily pointed to her face.

"You were not born with those whisker marks. I know this because I saw you. The next time I saw you, you where whiskered. The kyuubi attacked the night you were born, and you were made into a jinchuuriki, just like me." Temari and Kankurō gaped.

"Wha, what? But, but mother left just so that that _wouldn't_ happen to her!" Temari jumped the frozen Naruto, crying.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "If, if I had known, I would, I would have found you sooner! I, I would have left. I'm so sorry we couldn't be there." Naruto wasn't sure what to do. The older girl was just so…_genuine._ She knew a lot of people treated her like she was clueless (and granted she was in a lot of things) but she'd made sure, after Mizuki, that no one would trick her like that again. Gaara...Gaara had no emotion, so she assumed he was lying. Temari? She was crying; she was _really_ crying? But, but jii-san had said…and her mother's headband…it was true, wasn't it? These guys just had something mixed up. And, after all, Gaara looked the same age as her. How should he remember whether she had whisker marks when she was born or not! Slowly, she pulled the other girl off of her.

"Look, I still you guys are out of your minds, but I have to get back to my team-"

"You're coming with us." Kankurō visibly twinged at Gaara's response as Naruto glared over.

"What?" Her voice was dangerous.

"You're coming with us. You belong in Suna, away from Konoha. It's my job to protect you, so that's the way it is."

"Like heck! I'm staying right here and there's nothing you can do about it." Sand instantly wrapped itself around her, holding her tight.

"Gaara! Stop it!"

"Hey man, that's outta line!" The red head ignored them both.

"You are coming home with us; nothing will stop me from my promise." Naruto continued to struggle for a moment before responding.

"If you don't let me do, I swear to you, _I'll_ be the one to make you break your promise. One day, when you're not looking, I'll _kill_ myself you hear me! Better dead and slave to some delusional maniac like you!" Gaara looked at her, somewhat impressed, somewhat annoyed. He waved a hand, dismissing his sand.

"Fine, we'll do it your way, but you'll learn how little _trust_ you can have for these people soon enough."

"Whatever; I'm going." She dashed off through the trees. Gaara sighed.

"Time to go," he said, and they took off after her.

_She, she'd just like Gaara, but, she's happy. How come? What was so different here?_

_Oh man, Gaara's going to go crazy if this keeps up. Don't know what they told sis, but if she'd just believe us I'd feel a lot safer around Gaara._

_*sigh* She'll understand soon enough. For now I just need to keep her safe from herself._

* * *

**So, how was that? Gaara's getting a bit more involved than he was before, but MAN, look who he's gonna be up against. That's why it was so hard to write the next part. Not sure how I want it to go down yet. ****Hope ya'll liked the changes, though. **

**Also, Temari and Kankuro are being more open in their beliefs of Naruto being their sister, who is becoming very confused. Will the drama never end?**

**Come back next time!**

**and please review!**


	19. Snake in the Sand

**Alright, back up in length a bit! THIS chapter is about twice as long as the last one, give or take a about 200 words. :)**

**So, back to the forest of death, and we get to see if anything changes with Orochimaru, now that Gaar's following Naruto around like a shadow.**

**And of course, we'll get a couple small peeks at what a couple other characters are up to while all this is going on. Hopefully I can show how I want the relationship to go with that pair the way I MEAN to imply it...I'll let you guys decide what it looks like, and I'll tell you at the end what I'm trying for, and you can review to let me know if I'm doing it right.**

**notice-ff style, disclaimer no jutsu!**

* * *

Haku leapt to the next tree, cursing under her breath. So far there was no gap she could easily sneak through to watch over Naruto. She _really_ didn't trust that Gaara boy, and she's make darn well sure that he didn't hurt her new precious person. After Zabuza, it was Naruto that kept her moving on. Truth be told, she still really missed him, and she supposed she always would. He'd been more than just her master; he'd also been like her father. She always remembered the look in his eyes when he'd let her keep that white bunny she'd been chasing. She hadn't realized it at the time, but there was fondness and love there. Love for _her_. She missed that feeling, but he'd told her to live, and so she did.

Still, it was maddening that she couldn't break through into the forest. She didn't care about the rules at this point. She still had enough skill to sneak into the shinobi records center and found a file on Gaara. It was...disturbing, to say the least. He was barely older than Naruto, about nine or ten months, but he was already a bloodthirsty killer. His ninja record was nothing to sneeze at either. He'd been on several 'B' rank missions, and even an 'A' rank, escaping from each of them without even a scratch. It was rumored that he was a jinchuuriki, but there was no record for where that information came from so it was only a rumor.

Few children were that powerful, however, so Haku believed it to be true, thanking whoever it was that had found out that tidbit. They had even claimed it was he Ichibi, the one tailed raccoon. Additional research showed that it tended to be associated with sand, so she wasn't surprised, based on what she had observed. It was no wonder he had all this ability. Naruto may not be a match for him just now, though. True, Haku knew she had the Kyuubi, but she didn't use it like he did. She stood a chance of beating him when he finally made his move, but only a chance if she was by herself. Haku needed to be there too…

"You know, you'll never find a way to sneak through." Haku almost slipped and fell to the ground before catching her balance and arming herself with a set of senbon. She blinked as she saw who was sitting on the branch above her.

"Amaru?" Her eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here?" He shrugged as he took a sip of tea.

"I've been here for a couple hours," he said. "for the view. At least, that's what I told the shinobi guards. I have a feeling our purposes are actually closer than that, however." He drained the rest of his tea, wiping the cup dry and placing it in his satchel. "You're afraid for Naruto-chan, aren't you?" Haku's feet shifted, her eyes narrowing even further. "I know it's silly, but every time I look at Naruto, I see my niece, and there's something about her that makes me…makes me want to be assured that's she safe." He shrugged. "You, on the other hand, are her friend. You're reason for looking after her makes sense, at least." The ice user cautiously relaxed. He seemed, genuine, and that was something she'd learned during her years with Zabuza was seeing through deception. It hadn't helped them with Gato, but they'd had a feeling _something_ was up, at least. This man, however, this man exuded true concern for Naruto. It was…surprising.

"How do you know there's no way through?" He smiled softly, almost as if reminiscing.

"Like you, I've had shinobi training. It must have been different if you don't know this already, but the second stage of the chuunin exams are guarded like daimyo. The defenses are designed to guarantee no outside involvement. There's nothing we can do for her until it's over," he said.

"Is that so?" He nodded, jumping down from the tree.

"In the meantime, perhaps I can get you something to help relax your nerves. I was trained as a medic, after all. I know what battle nerves are like, especially when it concerns…someone close to you." The girl could hear the hurt in his voice. Who had he lost? Oh, right. His sister. And his niece. She sighed, jumping down next to him.

"Thank-you," he said. "I would have had trouble convincing them to ignore you if you'd stayed. You may have fooled the majority of the chuunin guards, but there was Jounin in this area; much harder to fool." Haku winced. She was being lax if she hadn't noticed them. "Now, best not to take medicine on an empty stomach. What would you like?" Haku stashed her gear on her robes, still not sure how the take the man. He was very sincere, but he knew more than he should. Still, he reminded her of…

.

.

.

Sasuke clutched his leg as the strange woman laughed. Even with the pain to distract him it was hard not to freeze in fear. The killing intent was so think he could taste it. And where was Naruto? His eyes had been flicking around for any sign of her since the first attack, but to be honest, he was hoping she left them. He knew better. He knew she would never leave them. She'd probably even fight this crazy girl with two hands tied behind her back.

Then, almost faster than the normal human eye could see, the woman zipped up the tree and across the branch he was standing on, curling around it just like the snakes she worked with. _I'm going to die!_ The figure halted suddenly as a mass of shuriken and kunai hit the branch not inches in front of her face. Sasuke whipped his head around, looking for the source of the weapons, fearing another foe. What he saw made him both relieved, and even more scared.

"Heehee, sorry guys, but I kinda forgot the codeword."

.

.

.

Anko san, I'm sorry, but we have a problem!" Anko broke the dango stick she'd been holding. She'd been thinking about the red haired Suna genin, Gaara, and wondering what he wanted with Naruto. Having one of the assistant proctors startle her wasn't on her list of _calming_ influences.

"What is it?"

"We've found some bodies. You'll want to see this." He was wrong, of course. Anko would have preferred to have never seen them, ever. She would have preferred to never know what was out there with her little sister, and she had a feeling that her old master was after one of two things; her little sister, or her sister's boyfriend.

.

.

.

"So, that's why you decided to study medicine? That seems a little…"

"Haha, yes, silly. A teddy bear _is_ a silly reason, but I've never regretted that choice. I just wish I'd had enough skill to save those important to me." Haku nodded in sympathy.

"I, also, did not have the power to save someone important to me. He…" she paused. "It's hard to explain. Anyone looking at us would not have said so, but he was a father to me. He taught me everything I needed to know about life." She sighed. "I miss him so much…" Yashamaru smiled softly, raising a hand to place it on her head. Haku froze in surprise.

"Well, whatever happened to him, I'm sure he's proud of you. If I'd ever had a daughter, I think I'd like her to be like you." She looked at him in confusion as he stood to leave.

"What? What do you mean? You don't even know me."

"You protect your friends with all you have; that's all I need to know." He walked out of the stall, throwing one last comment over his shoulder.

"Make sure you take care of her; Naruto's one special girl, and anyone that can call her 'friend' is lucky."

Haku stared after him. How could anyone be so trusting? Zabuza always told her not to trust people, and yet…why did she like how he talked? And why did it feel so much like…

.

.

.

"Naruto, get out of here! She's way out of our league!" Naruto looked at Sasuke in confusion. She didn't look to tough, but then again, Sasuke was hurt, not to mention he had a wild look in his eyes she'd never seen before, and Sakura looked like she was having trouble moving too. Had this gal really given them that much trouble?

"Naruto, please, get out of here! She'll kill us all!" That was when Naruto got another shock. _He's…worried about me. He really things we're gonna die!_ She looked back at the other Kunoichi who was smiling at her in amusement.

"So, you managed to beat my snake after all, eh? How interesting."

"Ahhh," Naruto yelled pointing, "so _you_ were the one behind that huge snake!" She crossed her arms in frustration.

"I was _about_ to deal with it, but some stupid jerk took care of it right before I had the chance." That had the snake user wonder in surprise. Someone else was there to help the girl without hurting her? Was it another Konoha team? But no one should be able to defeat snakes of these sizes. They mentally shrugged. It didn't matter. This was all that was here now.

"Perhaps you'd like to try on another one, eh?"

"Heck yeah! Bring it on doll face!"

"No!" Sasuke's yell was so loud it demanded everyone divert their attention to him. Naruto's eyes widened as she saw what Sasuke was holding it. It was their scroll….their _real_ scroll.

"You have an earth scroll. Go ahead and take this heaven scroll, and leave us be." Both his teammates stared at him in shock.

"Ah yes, very smart, bargaining, trying to give the predator a difference meal to distract it." The reached out a hand to catch the scroll as Sasuke threw it to them. _I'm sorry Naruto, but I have to keep you safe!_ _I can't let you die…what?_

"What are you doing?" Naruto had thrown herself as hard as she could to intercept the scroll, real anger showing in her eyes before she promptly hit Sasuke in the face.

"What _I'm_ doing is being a shinobi, Sasuke-kun. What I'm doing is sticking to me ninja way. What the heck are _you_ doing? How are you ever going to beat your brother if you keep backing down from a challenge!" Sasuke stared at her in surprise. If he didn't survive, how was he supposed to do _that_ in the first place? "We found Zabuza, didn't we? He was an A-rank ninja! We did fine against him, even if it was with Kakashi sensei. We're stronger now, so why can't we fight _this_ guy too!" Laughter interrupted further talk.

"Yes, well, she's absolutely right, except being able to handle me." She sighed, shrugging. "I supposed should just go ahead and kill you before taking your scroll. Would have happened anyway."

"I'd like to see you try," Naruto yelled, launching herself at the enemy.

"Summoning jutsu!"

After that several things seemed to happen at once. Sasuke and Sakura screamed. The giant snake appeared, attacking Naruto. Naruto herself went flying, but before she could hit anything a giant sand cushion appeared and caught her in the air.

"Foolish imouto. I could have told you this person was out of your league." The grass nin frowned as they looked over the new arrivals. _The sand trio? Imouto? There are only three children of the Kazekage, so what's going on?_

"Hey! Put me down! I told you, I don't need your help, and I'm _not_ your sister, got it!" _Oh, so she fights them, does she? This _is_ interesting…_ Temari put a hand on Gaara's shoulder.

"Gaara, I think you should put her down like she wants." Gaara shrugged, pulling her in and placing her next to them on the branch.

"Fine, but you should stop running off like that." Naruto, as soon as she was settled, tried to throw a punch at him.

"You jerk! Huh?" Of course, sand had flown up to protect the red haired genin and he looked at her in morbid amusement.

"All the times more experienced shinobi have tried to assassinate me, and you, without even controlling the power of the fox, think _you_ can?" Naruto growled. "And them, you think they will help you? Look at them. He's your boyfriend, and what has he done, mmm? Is he really worthy of your trust?" Naruto looked around widely for Sakura, terrified that she'd know now while Sasuke hung his head in shame at Gaara's words. _Is he right? Am I really not worthy of Naruto's trust?_

"S, Sakura, I promise, I, I can explain!" _If we fight this person, I can see my own death; I _know_ I'll die!_

"It's alright," Sakura said, sad smile on her face. "I, I've known for a while and, and I'm okay with it. You, you remember when he were scared about losing me as a friend? That was right after I found out." She raised her hand to give her a thumbs up. "But friends stick together no matter what! I, I may want Sasuke myself, but you got, so I'm going to respect that, and help you too stay together."

"Sakura-chan…" Gaara frowned in annoyance. This was working? She was allowing herself to still trust them? Kankuro whistled, impressed.

"Dude, you've got a friend there. Hang onto her."

"Hey, nobody asked you, Barbie!" Kankurō bit down a growl. He'd been called worse for his war paint, and Naruto was in a bit of a stressful situation.

"They're right," Sasuke said quietly. "They are. I, I haven't been worthy of your trust, but now…" he pushed himself up from his knees he'd fallen to earlier. "But now I make a promise, one that even supersedes the one I gave to my brother, Itachi." He looked her straight in the eye as he lifted a kunai, his eye switching to the sharingan, a second tomoe appearing even as he spoke. "I will _never_ give you cause to doubt your trust in me again.

_Not what I expected, but his sharingan is here. I need to find a way to make him doubt himself, though. This will be harder than I thought, without Itachi being his main drive._ She glanced up at the sand trio and Naruto. _And now I know about the kyuubi brat, so this hasn't been entirely wasted. Just a small roadblock._

"Alright then, come at me; let me see your power."

"Alright, let's do this!" Naruto tried to jump at the shinobi only to find that Gaara had anticipated her and anchored her feet with his sand again. "Hey, stop doing that! This is my fight!" He shook his head.

"It would be pointless. Neither of you can beat them."

"I know that! But we couldn't beat Zabuza either!"

"The demon of the mist? When did you fight him." Naruto waved a hand impatiently.

"It doesn't matter. We've faced people we shouldn't have been able to and came out on top, not that he was a bad guy in the end. But what matters now is helping my team, and I swear the same thing I did before if you let _him_ get hurt, either." Gaara growled. He actually growled, grinding his teeth in frustration.

"You foolish little-"

"Yeah yeah, blah blah blah. I've heard it all before, 'brother,' but if you want me to live much longer, you'll let me go!" Temari and Kankuro jumped off the branch in unison while Gaara shook his head.

"No, I won't. You'll get hurt if you fight him, so I can't let you. But, until you learn better, I'll take care of it." A platform of sand appeared and Gaara stepped onto it, arms crossed and face twisted in anger. "You're staying right there until we get rid of him." _Wait, he's really going to do that?_ It was then that she saw Temari and Kankuro already fighting with Sasuke, Temari using the huge fan on her back to fan Sasuke's flames, increasing his power. The bandaged form on the other boy's back turning out to be a hug puppet that was now shooting senbon out of its mouth at the grass nin, and they were starting to have trouble keeping ahead. After all, even if you knew who they really were, these three, soon to be four, genin were particularly talented. In just a few years they would not only be chuunin, but Jounin.

_This is _not_ the way things are supposed to go! What is going on with these fools and Naruto? I will need to find out more about this._ They gave a last look to Sasuke. _Next time, my precious Uchiha; next time, nothing will be stopping me from giving you my gift._

"Well, that's enough for today. Enjoy the reprieve, because it will not last!"

.

.

.

_What's this?_ Anko almost stopped, the chakra she'd been feeling almost disappearing. _He, he can't be dead (thought that would be nice, even if _I_ didn't get to do it) but why can't I sense his chakra anymore?_ She shook herself. She needed to keep going and find out what happened. She needed to know if Naruto was okay. Her seal wasn't activated, but she was stubborn like that. Anko had to know!

.

.

.

"Alright, that's all the traps we'll need. We can finish getting to the tower tomorrow." Gaara hned as the other four lodgers in the hollow of the tree sat on opposite ends. Sakura joined her team and started to get their bedding ready. "Of course, we'll need to set up a series of shifts to make sure no one tries to sneak up on us later while we're resting." Kankuro chuckled.

"No need for that. Gaara here? He never sleeps. He'll be on watch all night."

"Wah? No, that can't be right. _Everyone_ sleeps!" Temari shook her head sadly.

"No, not him. If he does, Shukaku takes over and goes on a rampage. Gaara can't afford to fall asleep if for no other reason than to stay in control of himself."

"I don't trust him," Sasuke said, pulling Naruto into himself a little tighter. It felt odd to be able to do it in front of Sakura, but with these three around, he wasn't going to let up his guard. He'd promised Naruto he'd never give her reason not to trust him again, and that meant he wasn't going to let _them_ get the jump on him, either, or steal Naruto away to their stupid village.

"You'll only make yourself more tired, Uchiha," Temari said. 'Get your rest, or you won't be able to keep Naruto safe." He opened his mouth to retort only for Naruto's hand to squeeze his.

"Eh? What?" Naruto looked at him, her eyes completely open to him.

"I, I know I shouldn't, Sasuke, but Temari? I trust her. I, I can't explain, but I do. If she says we're safe, then we're safe. I know how hard you had to fight today, and maybe I was wrong to yell at you like I did, but you need to rest. It's still several miles till we get to the tower and there's no telling how many teams will be lying in wait and laying traps to catch teams like ours. Even with our fake scrolls we'll need to be able to put up _some_ kind of fight. They won't believe that." She paused. Speaking of which, why didn't you offer her one of our fake's?" Sasuke scowled. Well, more than he was already.

"I didn't think they'd be fooled. The power they had, and their killing intent…it's more than even…" he shuddered. "It doesn't matter, though, 'cause you were right. I should have been willing to fight harder, especially to protect you." Gaara scoffed.

"Please, stop these pretenses. I know you're using my sister, so why don't you tell us all what you're using her for?" Sasuke glared at him.

"Right, I'm using her, just like your siblings use you, right? Oh I'm _sure_ they're using you." Gaara chuckled.

"Of course they are. Using my power their own reputations have been increased, and without me they may not have made it to these chuunin exams."

"That's not true!" Gaara rounded on his older sister.

"Is it not? You never showed any concern for me before we were put on a team together. You've never cared for me, or anyone but yourself. No one does. They just pretend except," he said, looking at Naruto, "except for the particularly foolish, and they will learn their mistakes in time." Kankuro looked away as Temari shook.

"Never cared? How can you not remember…" Gaara raised an eye in skepticism.

"Oh? You think I've forgotten something?"

"Don't you remember, before you became like this? When you tried to hurt yourself?" Gaara blinked. He'd tried to hurt himself, yes, to understand others. When did she see that, and when was she talking about? She never…Gaara's head began to throb so he pushed himself off the root he'd been reclining on.

"I tire of this. Act as you will, for now. I'll be keeping watch."

"Is, is her always like that?" Kankuro nodded as Temari calmed herself, trying not to cry at the dismissal.

"Yeah, he is. He used to be a sweet kid, but our dad saw to _this_ happening," he said, spitting in disgust.

"Um…why is he like that? What did your dad do?" The puppet user grimly at Sakura, answering her question.

"Our father put the Ichibi into Gaara as a baby, isolating him from contact with other people. He made Gaara to become a weapon, and he doesn't treat us much different. We're just 'normal' weapons, though. Gaara? He's supposed to be the _ultimate_ weapon. We…when we were all little, we tried to be part of his life, but stuff happened and we decided it was best to keep our distance till dad stopped keeping an eye on us and we could be around Gaara without him knowing."

"What happened?" Temari, calm now, scowled.

"It backfired. We waited too long to let Gaara know that we were keeping an eye on him, that we cared. Father…he controlled our uncle, modifying his memory. He was the only person Gaara trusted, and he really cared for him, but father turned him against Gaara. This was after a few people had been told to kill Gaara."

"What? But, but he's only what? 12, 13?" The girl nodded.

"Yeah, but he was only 5 then. He wasn't becoming the tool father wanted him to be, so father tried to kill him and make someone else into a weapon. Turns out, like Naruto discovered earlier, sand completely protect Gaara, and follows every command he gives that doesn't endanger him. It's the perfect defense, acting without even conscious thought. But, after uncle was…messed up by father, e tried to kill Gaara, and that's when he stopped being the sweet little kid he'd been before. That's when he embraced death, began to enjoy killing…and stopped trusting. It was too late." Everyone sat in silence for a moment before Naruto spoke up, hesitantly.

"So, so how am _I_ supposed to fit into all of this? If I'm your 'sister,' like you three keep saying, how does that work?"

"Naruto! You're not their sister!"

"I know, I know; I, I just want to understand 'cause…cause they really believe it!" Her team looked at her incredulously.

"What?" Temari nodded.

"Yes, we really believe it. I, I know she may never accept it, and there really isn't a reason to, so long as those that she knows keep telling her they know who he parents are. There's nothing we can do about that, but Gaara has another ability with his sand, and my wind chakra helps it.

"After Gaara was born, mother almost died. Granny Chiyo's a great medic, though, and she saved mom's life. So, dad made her get pregnant again, even though he knew it would kill her. He…"

"I overheard him talking once," Kankuro said, taking up the story as Temari hesitated. "He was mad about Gaara at the time, and he was muttering his thoughts. He made mom get pregnant again because he knew about another bijuu that was about to appear. I still don't know how he knew, but it was the kyuubi's attack on Konoha." Sakura gave a slight gasp.

"He wanted to have a new born baby that he could seal the kyuubi into as well. That's why we made our little trip to Konoha back then. I guess father was planning on being close by, watch Konoha get attacked, then seal the bijuu and take it back with him."

"So, what happened next," asked the blonde.

"She ran away, about a month before she was due, I think. Only a few shinobi even knew mom was alive. When Gaara was sealed, most people thought she died. Dad liked it that way. Guess he thinks it makes him mysterious and unpredictable." He shrugged. Then did a small double take as he tilted his head, looking harder as Naruto than he had before. She looked like…

"The point is," Temari finished, "mother ran away, probably to Konoha, since Naruto has the kyuubi. But she didn't have it before mom died. We…that ability I mentioned. Gaara can cover his eyes and make sand eyes. He wanted to see mom so much after she disappeared that he activated it accidently when he was still a baby, and that's how we saw mom. If I add my wind chakra, you can hear as well as see, and talk with whoever's on the other end. So, we saw mom and Naruto together, the night before the kyuubi attacked, and that was when mom finally noticed us, the little sand eye above her." She sighed.

"Mom told us then to take care of Naruto if we ever met her, and we promised we would. Of course, we only saw Naruto once more, and I think it's because Gaara didn't understand how his eye worked then. He was looking for mom, and Naruto must have been near where mom's body was, 'cause we saw her that one more time, with the whisker marks on her cheeks, and then we only ever saw an empty house and a few other demolished buildings. We thought that wherever she was had been destroyed, back then, and were sad we'd lost our sister, that mom had run away only for her last child to die. Then, we found you, and you said your name was Naruto, just like mom told us, and you had the whiskers." Sasuke rolled his eyes as Naruto nodded slowly.

"So, that's why you think it's me?" Temari nodded. "I, I hate to tell you, 'cause I actually kinda like you two (sorry 'bout calling you barbie, by the way)" Kankuro shrugged absently, "but jii-san…er, the hokage, I mean, he's shown me a picture of my mom, and I can see her face in mine."

"What did she look like," Kankuro asked.

"Huh? Um, well, she was kinda pale, with really long, long red hair and…" and Naruto continued to describe her.

"Temari, that was the fourth hokage's wife!" Temari looked at him in confusion.

"Don't you remember? She came to see us one or twice when we visited that week, talked about how much our mom must love us and be proud of us. She even gave me my favorite cookies, like she knew! And look at Naruto! She has his hair and eyes!" Temari looked back and forth between her siblings, totally confused.

"Yeah, so? We saw that when she was born. She had the same hair and eyes then. It didn't make sense to me then, either, but somehow that's how she was born. Besides, can't you see mom in her?"

"Yeah, but that only makes it more confusing. She has features from mom, yeah, defiantly, but she also has things that look just like that lady and the hokage!" Everyone was looking around in shock now.

"The, the fourth? My, my dad?" _Jii san, he told me he couldn't tell me…is that why? Was my dad, the fourth? The most feared of all shinobi in the world? He would have had a lot of people after him…could he really be my…dad?_

"But, but she has the whiskers! And her name, how could something like that-"

"I don't know! You're right, I know that. This is our sister, but, but how could she look so much like them?"

"Okay, now I'm totally confused. It sounds like your saying that our Naruto is your sister, but that she was also the yondaime's daughter. What are you going on about." Kankuro started.

"Crap," he muttered. "Should have kept that to myself. Um, well, I'm not sure. I mean, I'm positive Naruto's our sister, but I can't shake the resemblance."

"Well, maybe you can just stop spouting off your crap," Sasuke said, "and we can all realize that there's no way in heck you guys are related to her." Naruto's head was spinning with all the implications. Temari and Kankuro were both very sincere in everything they said, and they could be right…except that Kankuro was right. She looked _just_ like the yondaime. Could it be true? Why had she never thought of that before?

"How, how about we all just get to sleep. This, this is too confusing to think about right now. Tomorrow we'll be getting to the tower and-"

"You tell me where she is or I don't care what treaty we may have with Suna, I'll rip your head off myself!"

"Anko nee-san!" Naruto jumped up and ran outside, glomping onto Anko as she rushed out. Anko, for her part, had been red in the face when she'd come across Gaara in the tree above, still sensing Naruto's chakra nearby. Knowing what he'd said about Naruto and how he was stalking her she'd feared the worst. Now she could hardly breathe. One of the solid pieces in Naruto's life was here, and she was squeezing it for all she was worth.

"Naruto-can't-breathe!"

"Oh, sorry nee-chan. I'm just really happy to see you."

"What's going on? Are you alright? What's _he_ doing here?" Naruto grimaced.

"It's…kind of a long story, and I, I think I need to talk to jii-san about it." Anko looked at her oddly. "It's just…it's about something he told me once that I need to ask him. He told me he couldn't say before, but I think I figured it out and I need to know from him if it's true." Anko nodded slowly.

"Okay, but what about this guy?" Naruto rolled her eyes.

"He's crazy, and he still thinks _that_, but he's not going to do anything. I know it, okay?" Anko narrowed her eyes.

"How can you trust him?"

"I don't trust _him_," she said, gesturing back behind her to the hollow. "I trust _her_." Temari waved weakly from where she sat at the edge of the tree.

"Naruto…"

"I know, I know, but you know how I can just tell, with some people."

"Like Mizuki," Anko growled.

"Hey! That was different. Temari-chan…she's different. I can tell!"

"Well, _I_ don't trust them." She let go of Naruto for a moment to summon a snake. "Vip, I need you to watch over Naruto for a bit." The small viper looked at Anko and Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

"And whatsss in it for me?" Anko grinned evilly.

"I don't turn you into a wallet." The snake hissed.

"Fine…"

"Naruto, anything happens, and Vip will let me know, got it? But don't let your guard down, got it?" The girl rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I won't."

"Good; now, what happened with Orochimaru? I felt you guys near him before he disappeared." Naruto's eyes widened.

"_That's _who that was? But, I though he was a guy?" Anko nodded.

"Yeah, he is, but he stole that grass nin's identity. What was he after? Why did he leave?"

"Umm…well, I think he was after…" She bit her lip. "I didn't think about it, but I think he was after Sasuke for some reason. Why?" Anko wanted to cry in relief that he wasn't after Naruto, but he was still after Sasuke, so she didn't.

"That snake, no offense, is always after something. It's probably the sharingan. He must want it's power, but I don't know why. Thanks, though. I'll go report this to the hokage now. He should be at the tower waiting for me." She stood. "And I'll tell him you need to talk to him, alright?"

"Thanks," Naruto said appreciatively. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Eh?"

"Oh, right, we got scroll before running into…_him_" she informed her. Anko's mouth formed an 'o' of surprise. "Yes, that's right, we already got it, and if it hadn't been for him, we'd be at the tower today, but you don't face down a sannin without needing a rest!" Anko chuckled halfheartedly.

"Right, of course." She shook herself. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said, giving Naruto one last hug. "Be safe," she whispered.

"I will." And with that, she was gone. The rest of the evening was relatively awkward, neither side being sure how to treat the other. Temari managed to talk with Sakura about the differences in chakra, but that was about it. Soon, everyone but Gaara fell asleep. Gaara, and a trio of sound shinobi that were keeping their distance, wondering why their allies were protecting their masters target.

* * *

**So, what I was going for with Yashamaru and Haku was a father daughter type bond, but I'm not to good at it, I don't think. I'm a son, not a daughter, and I haven't had my own kids yet. Not even getting married till next year... :( Oh well, at least I still have the girl of my dreams! **

**Anyway, that's what I was _trying_ imply between those two, so let me know how I did.**

**Also, if your confused by the conversation the sand sibs had with naruto, don't worry, it was SUPPOSED to be confusing. What it comes down to is this: Naruto is having _some_ doubts because Temari is so sincere, and her heart tells her to trust this girl. Meanwhile, Kankuro voiced his realizations on her resemblance to the fourth Hokage and his wife. Everything is being thrown in a blender and confusing EVERYBODY. So, Naruto needs to find sure evidence, something that cannot be denied so that she can know for SURE who she is.**

**Well, that's it for now. Next chapter will be the Sound trio and the tower. Naru vs Hina coming up soon! (just a little teaser for you to think about)**

**One last thing: for those of you who found this story some other way than it being near of the top of the list, I'm interested to know how people find my story besides recent updates. Just something I'm curious about.**

**Take care yawl, and please review!**


	20. Through the Forbidden Forest

**Sweet, this is actually a decently long chapter! Now i can feel slightly justified for taking nearly a whole month!**

**First thing, I know I said something would happen with Naruto and Hinata, but when I sat down and planned out the next 10 or chapters, it came up in the NEXT chapter AFTER this one. Sorry...it's still gonna happen though! I promise!**

**This chapter will take us to right before the prelims. We've got some more interaction with foreign shinobi, a possible new friend for Naruto, another attempt at a father/daughter relationship for Haku and 'Amaru', and protective big brothers. (Anyone every have one of those?)**

**Last note: after the disclaimer is a review reply for Yuxria who I guess doesn't have an account, so everyone else can skip that. Meanwhile, enjoy the new chapter!**

**...and please leave a review?  
**

**notice-ff style, disclaimer no jutsu!**

**and now for Yuxria's review...**

**so, first off thanks for reviewing. Glad you decided to do so! Anyway, hopefully I did better on Yashamaru and Haku this time. Tell me what you think, please. And as far as Hinata and Naruto go, of COURSE they're going to make up! I'm not very good with sad endings. It'll take a little while before they get face to face and resolve it, but the main issue will be taken care of pretty soon. Naruto's going to get more new friends in the interim, though. Thanks again for the review. Hope you enjoy the new chapter!  
**

* * *

That morning Anko stumbled to a doorway at the tower, clutching her shoulder, suppressed pain written on her face. Panting, she used to wall to support herself as she opened the door and fell in.

"Anko! What happened to you? Anbu have been looking everywhere for you." Anko accepted the offered hand, pulling herself up.

"Get the hokage. We have a big problem."

.

.

.

"Naruto-chan, it's time to get up. Once we get you guys to the tower you can get rid of Gaara for a while." Naruto yawned, blinking as she tried to figure out who was talking to her.

"Temari?" The older girl nodded.

"Yeah, it's me. Come on, get up and grab snack." Naruto cocked her head in confusion.

"Wait a second, I though you guys were obsessed with me, now you're trying to get rid of me?" Temari shook her head vigorously.

"No, it's nothing like that! I just…I know you don't like Gaara following you around, and since we still need to get our own scroll, the soon we get you to the tower, the sooner we can convince him to leave you so we can find our own." Temari paused. "I'm… sorry you have to be going through this. If father wasn't so insane, we, we could have grown up together, and Gaara wouldn't be as scary as he is. He'd know that we _do_ love him, and that we love you, too." Naruto groaned.

"Why? Why do you guys have to be so convinced? I grew up here, jii-san knew my parents, and Kankuro even said I look like the yondaime. Why can't you guys just accept that as being reality?"

"I, I can't explain that, but Naruto, we talked with our mom, we saw you as a baby. We knew you had blonde hair even back then. We you look like the yondaime I don't know, and I don't think I ever will, but you _are_ my sister, and I'll always do anything I can to help you." Naruto looked up, sadness reflected in her eyes.

"I always wanted a sister, but unless someone I know can prove that what you guys say is true, you _can't_ be my sister." Temari nodded.

"I know, but that doesn't mean _I_ won't think of you as mine."

"Alright, fine." Naruto stood up. "You said it was time to get going, right?"

"Yeah. Kankuro already left to find some extra food in the forest. I was never as good at foraging as him. I'm more of a strategist, he's more of an infiltrator."

"And Gaara? What would you call him?" Temari thought for a moment, surprised.

"I…don't know. Gaara is…he's actually really smart. I remember talking to him a little when he was younger, and he was already thinking on the same level as me. Higher, even, in some planes of though. He...he likes to think things through, usually, until that demon inside him convinces him that he needs blood." She shivered, a cold chuckle escaping her lips. "If I was smart, I'd probably have run away by now in self preservation."

"I think I can understand-"

"No, you don't." The fan wielder's eyes darkened considerably as she glanced out to the clearing. "The sand that he carries around with him? The day he started carrying it was the day he vowed to kill me with it." Naruto's jaw gapped open.  
"He, he what? Why?"

"It was right after he stopped trusting people. He, he attacked someone, and I stopped him from killing them. That's how I know my little brother is still there, and not just the demon. The demon would have killed me, but Gaara? He's smart. He _knows_ that I care about him, that I love him. He stopped the demon from killing me, but it's always whispering in his ear, telling him what to do, warping him." Dew formed in her eyes, fighting to turning into a stream. "My Gaara, the sweet kid I knew, he was a wonder, a special kid that could probably do whatever he wanted to, and he's still there, and every moment I'm alive is proof he's fighting." Naruto awkwardly reached forward and hugged Temari.

"I'm sorry, Temari. I, I hope he comes around." Temari gratefully accepted the hug before standing up.

"Thanks, but we really should get going. You should wake up your boyfriend and the pinkette."

"Stop calling me that," Sakura mumbled, slowly rolling over, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Temari shrugged and walked out. Naruto scratched her arm nervously as Sakura sat up and forced herself awake.

"Hey, um, did you uh-"

"Most of it, but it was between you and her." Sakura yawned. "Naruto, I don't think she's your sister, but she _does_ care. I think you were right, deciding to be her friend, but keep her at a distance, okay?" Naruto nodded.

"Thanks." Silence hung on the air for a moment. "Sakura?"

"Mmm?"

"I'm sorry." The girl sighed heavily.

"It's…okay. I really shouldn't have limited myself to one guy anyway, especially one that has so many girls running after him. I just don't want to loose another friend like I lost Ino." She smiled. "After all, girls gotta stick together, right?"

"Right." The blonde's smile lifted, gaining its usual fervor. "So lets wake up Sasuke and-"

"We just want the Uchiha, you little brats! Leave now and we won't hurt you, too."

.

.

.

"Hey, Dosu, is this really a good idea? I get a bad vibe from that sand guy. He's been up all night, hasn't he? And why is Sand helping out Leaf anyway? I know they're allies, but this doesn't make sense." Dosu grunted.

"I don't know, and I don't care. Orochimaru-sama gave us a job: take out the Uchiha. I intend to do just that, and no one is gonna stand in the way of that."

"Yeah," Zaku said. "Orochimaru-sama is the one who took us in and believed in us what no one else would. If I have to beat down _two_ teams of genin brats in order to complete his orders, I've got no problem with that." Kin nodded weakly.

"You're right." And they were. They had all been taken in by Orochimaru from off the streets. Most of the sound was like that. He cared about them, gave them the chance to show their true strength. He gave them a reason to live when they were almost ready to give up and die.

"Alright, let's move in."

.

.

.

Gaara had been sitting in thought most of the night. His sister was an enigma to him. There she was, just like him, but so different. She was either very good at manipulating people, or she was unbelievably naive. He thought it was the later, though he was leaving the former option open.

Naruto simply trusted too easily and put herself too close to people. The kyuubi's chakra was different than Shikaku's. While his was primarily a defensive chakra, having been derived from a need to protect itself from the stronger bijuu, the kyuubi's was an offensive type chakra, focusing on attack and destruction rather than self-preservation through defense. She couldn't even afford to trust at all! She should be on her guard at all times.

And speaking of being on guard, he was curious as to what those weaklings were doing behind the trees. They'd been there all night, and he was excitedly anticipating some action. After being denied so much blood thanks to his sister (though that snake _had_ been rather satisfying) he was eager for a chance to spill more blood. And, finally, they came out, seemingly ready to fight.

"Alright, I don't know why you're here, sand ninja, but we've come for-" Dosu was cut off as a wave of sand shot at them, causing them to scatter. "Hey now, calm down! I was trying to tell you-" Gaara gave him no chance to explain and so the three ninja dodged again, though the sand was starting to catch up. It was almost they were being played with.

"We don't want you," Kin started to say even as Zaku prepared to blast away the sand. "We just want-" she didn't get to finish the sentence as Gaara decided he didn't like her voice and concentrated his sand on her. Just as it came in, a blast of wind blew it all away.

"Gaara, stop it! They've got something to say at least, let's hear them out before doing anything." Gaara's eye twitched in annoyance.

"They've been waiting to attack all night," he said, "and you want to talk?"

"All night?" Temari turned to look at the three recovering nin. Dosu was helping Kin to her feet.

"Yes, all night," Zaku said. "And now, even though I'm thoroughly ticked off, I'm gonna give you guys one more chance before we actually attack." He planted his feet, arms ready to repel anymore of Gaara's sand.

"We just want to Uchiha, you little brats! Leave now and we won't hurt you, too."

At that Naruto motioned to Sakura to wake Sasuke up and let him know what was going on before she went out to see what was going on herself.

"What do you want with Sasuke?" Zaku looked over in slight surprise as Naruto emerged from the hollow of the tree.

"What do we want? Our leader, Orochimaru, wants him dead. _That's_ what we want with him." Naruto and Temari started.

"What? That doesn't make sense." Dosu shrugged.

"Doesn't have to, except that killing someone like him would lower your village's future power. Regardless, you do what your leader tells you to, and our leader told us to kill Sasuke Uchiha." Naruto laughed.

"No, that's not what I meant. What I meant was that…wait, that snake is the one in charge of the sound village?" Naruto's eyes widened. Anko and jii-san would want to know that. All they knew so far was that he was here, but this? This was majorly important.

"Hey, don't talk about him like that! Orochimaru-sama took us all in and trained us to be strong, so we don't have to take lip from the ones who betrayed him." Naruto wasn't sure if she should laugh or growl.

"Betrayed _him_? My best friend was his apprentice. She worshiped the ground he walked on, and _he_ betrayed _her!_" She flipped her hair so it was all behind her shoulders. "Besides, if Orochimaru wanted Sasuke dead, he would have killed him himself yesterday." Dosu paused.

"What?"

"Yeah, that's right; yesterday we fought him, and if had wanted to kill Sasuke, he would have done it then."

"Impossible…"

"It's true," Sasuke said, walking out, forcing the rest of the sleep from his eyes. "I didn't know it was Orochimaru until later, but he attacked us. He had me trapped, and he choose to leave without killing me."

"That was…him?" Temari was troubled. If that was Orochimaru, then what had he learned? Had they made a mistake? Would he tell father? Father…what would _he_ do?

"Well, I don't believe it! You're just saying that to make us doubt ourselves…and I won't have it!" Zaku cried out as he charged to wind pipes in his arms, shooting out the cutting air at the other genin. Most of the dodged, except for Gaara. Gaara simply smirked and reached out a hand.

"You loose." In that moment sand shot up from all around the three sound nin, trapping them where they stood, pinning Zaku's hands to his sides. "Now, who to kill first…." His eyes strayed to the girl. "Ah yes, the one with the annoying voice…." He held out his other hand, preparing to close it, glee written all over his face…until sand shot up to block his vision.

"Stop that!" His eyes twitched again.

"You do recall that they want to kill your boy toy, yes? And that they serve a man who betrayed your village, mmm?" Naruto stood up, face to face with the boy.

"Yes, I remember all that, but this…this isn't about that. They don't know what he really is, and if they die now, they'll never learn. The freaky guy with the bandages is right: they're just doing what they were told, like all of us do for our village. We _don't_ need to kill them," she glanced over her shoulder, "even if, right now, they are the enemy." She turned back to face her fellow jinchuuriki.

"I don't know why you do this, but I do know it's wrong, and that it doesn't give people a chance to change. Everyone deserves a chance, so right now, we let them go. They know they can't beat you now, so we let them go, and they live to learn."

"How can you say that," Gaara whispered, rage trembling in his voice. "How can you trust? Why haven't you learned better yet? Trust? Hope? These things only betray. Friends are meaningless. There is no love, except for yourself."

"Then why do you care?" Gaara blinked.

"What?"

"Then why do you care about me? Why trust me, and why tell me to trust you? You don't believe what you're saying, and you know it. Otherwise, Temari would be dead by now."

"She will die when I wish it."

"Do you not already wish it? He told her you were going to kill her, didn't you? So obviously you must wish it. So, why isn't she dead?" Gaara was silent for a moment.

"She is still useful to me."

"Well guess what, news flash: I'm not useful to you at all! If you looked over the last day, all I've done is stop you from doing what you want. So, either kill me now along with them, or figure out that you're wrong about yourself!" Silence hung heavily in the air, no one daring to speak. Everyone, even the sound nin, found themselves fearing for the crazy blond girl's life. Sasuke fingered his weapons, ready to move in and stop the sand user at the first sign of attack. No matter what Naruto said, he wasn't going to let her die today, or any day soon. As long as he was there to protect her, she wouldn't die.

Temari's thoughts ran along a different set of rails. She wasn't afraid for her life. No, her purpose in life had long been to help Gaara become as he was, and if couldn't change back, she had failed her purpose. She knew her life was on the line every minute she was around her brother, but it didn't scare her.

What Temari wondered at was Naruto's blatant call of Gaara's thoughts being illogical. No one, ever, talked to Gaara like that, but was that what he needed. After all, he hadn't reacted yet. He just started at her with those cold, surprised eyes. Finally, Gaara turned around, and sand fell from the sand nins' bodies.

"You will learn your lesson, and just to help you realize that people will never love you, I'll let them go. You will learn."

"It'll be a cold day in hell when I stop believing," she said, and she turned to help the girl, who was the most shaken, to her feet.

"I'm sorry about Gaara, but he's crazy, as you can see. There's no point in attacking us as long as he's here."

"Th, th, thank-you," Kin said, legs trembling. Looking over to her teammates, she saw that they weren't fairing much better. Well, Zaku wasn't, anyway. Dosu was always calm and collected.

"Very well, we'll go, for now. But remember, Sasuke is still on our list."

"Hey wait a second, what about what we told you? Why would Orochimaru tell you to kill Sasuke, but not do it himself when he had the chance." Dosu paused at Sakura's words.

"I don't know," he said in a tone that denied further conversation. He was…more disturbed by what he had learned than he let on, but he would think on it later. His team needed to be taken to safety first.

"hey wait." Dosu paused.

"What." Temari smirked.

"Seems like you shouldn't get away scot-free after trying to attack us and us letting you get away. Which scroll do _you_ guys have?" Dosu growled inwardly. He'd hoped everyone else was as naive as the smaller blonde girl.

"We have an earth scroll."

"Ah, perfect. Leave it."

"Heck n-"

"Fine." Zaku's eyes bugged out as he looked at his team leader, already pulling out their scroll and putting it on the ground.

"What are you doing man? They're already letting us go!" Dosu nodded as he went over to help Kin walk so they could leave.

"Yes, and they can change their minds at any second. We leave now. We're good enough to get two scrolls in three days, but not from these guys. You know we're lucky to be alive, so stop questioning it." He looked back over the group. "Next time, there will be no backing down, and even if we die, some of you will, too." And with that, the sound nin finally left. A moment late Kankuro came in, juggling some fruit.

"Hey guys, I got breakfast! Who wants a…what the heck are you staring at me for?"

.

.

.

The hokage sat with his fingers put together, staring darkly at his desk.

"I would if you're sure, but somehow…I don't think you'd make that mistake."

"Hai, hokage-sama," Anko replied, head bowed. Sarutobi breathed out slowly. He wished he'd brought his pipe with him. Orochimaru…he'd once been the person more important to him than anymore, besides his wife, of course, and she'd died a long time ago. Orochimaru had been like the son he'd never had, and then he betrayed them all in the worst way possible, and he hadn't stopped him. All he could see when he looked at him was the young boy he'd trained for years, happy and content, no war baggage or dead parents. He had thought, perhaps, he could be saved. His fingers tightened. He would no longer hesitate to do the deed. He had other people to think about now. Naruto was even more special to him than Orochimaru had been. Speaking of whom…

"You said that Naruto was alright, despite her teams run in with Orochimaru?"

"Hai; she told me that he retreated when the team from sand appeared and aided team 7's attack." Sarutobi jerked in surprise. While he'd felt comfortable in leafs alliance with sand, he hadn't thought they would stick their necks out for one of his teams in a chuunin exam.

"Did they explain why they stopped to help?" Anko's head jerked up.

"What? Didn't Naruto tell you?"

"Tell me what," he asked, confused. Naruto wasn't in the tower yet, so Anko must have been referring to something before the exam started…but she'd never mentioned the sand trio to him.

"Ugh. I guess I don't blame her. It's kind of awkward." She sighed. "I'm still gonna kill her for making me be the one to tell you. Oh!" She started. "That reminds me. She said she wanted to talk with you about something when she got her, but she didn't tell me what. Here's the deal on the sand genin, though…." Sarutobi wasn't sure if he should slam his head in his desk or go out and kill the sand trio for messing with his granddaughter's head, but he thought he might have an idea what Naruto wanted to talk about now, and the full story was one best told behind closed doors. She would need to wait to that, but he was going to keep an eye on the sand siblings in the meantime. Thank-goodness for crystal balls.

.

.

.

Team seven and the sand siblings made it to the tower without further incident (much to Gaara's displeasure), though there was a certain team from rain country that decided to forgo their genjutsu plan as one of them was still sore from what happened last time the blonde girl got angry, and they were double their number this time. So, wincing at the memories, they stayed hidden and let them pass.

At the tower they quickly checked for traps and walked in, where there was a small debate about what to do once they found no one waiting for them, and no instructions. Gaara decided that his team would open up their scrolls first, seeing as if there was a trap there he would be most able to stop it, thus protecting Naruto, and for a moment they thought it was a trap, then a man from Suna appeared with a cloth hanging over half of his face, much like Kakashi covered his face. _I wonder if he has a sharingan or something, too_, Naruto wondered.

"Well, a day slower than I expected, but good job kids." He looked over to team 7 as they moved to prepare and open their own scroll. "Ah, I see." He nodded to Naruto and looked back to his team. "Well, you have a few days to rest and relax, and I'm sure Temari and Gaara understand what's written on the wall, so they can explain it to you, Kankuro. Team dismissed, try and get some real food."

"Hey, we'll see you later Naruto-chan!" Naruto waved before they set their scrolls down.

"Yeah, later Temari-chan." Gaara grunted. She was in the tower, and she'd be staying there. He could afford a little distance, for now.

Moments later Iruka was congratulating them on passing and explaining the writing on the wall about 'heaven and earth,' or 'body and mind.' For once Naruto was interested, referencing something Anko had told her once. Iruka wasn't sure he wanted to know. He was still confused about how a banana was like a chuunin exam and he didn't want to try and delve into this one, too.

"So, you guys take care. I'll make sure to cheer for you at the final stage."

"Hey wait Iruka sensei!" The academy teacher paused his chakra build up he'd been about to use to shushin away.

"Eh?"

"Have you seen Anko nee-chan yet? She's supposed to be here somewhere." Iruka's face lit up.

"Really? Well, I suppose I could show you guys around the tower before I go. Who's hungry?"

.

.

.

Several minutes later Naruto and Iruka had split off from the rest of team 7 as they went to get settled in their rooms during their break. Iruka, being a chuunin, was able to stick his head into one of the offices and ask about Anko's location, so now they were headed to her room where she was resting. A look of concern flashed over Iruka's face. After all, it wasn't even noon. Why would Anko need to be resting already? Was she okay? Did something happen. Naruto gave an embarrassed, guilty look and said it would be best to talk with her first. So, finally finding her room in the maze that was the exam tower, Iruka knocked on her door. No one answered.

"Well, they did say she was taking a nap," Naruto said. "Try again?"

"If at first you don't succeed." Iruka rapped sharply on the door. Silence.

"Third times the charm?"

"Sure…maybe you can sneak in after this one if she doesn't answer. I'd hate to be the one to walk in on her." Naruto smirked.

"Is it 'cause she told you how she sleeps? You know, most guys would _want_ to walk in on their naked girl-"

Iruka was desperately pounding the door, red in the face at Naruto's suggestion and the images now coming to his mind. Did Naruto really want to be hokage? He thought she'd do better following in Anko's shoes and going into the T&I department. His banging finally brought an irate response from inside the room.

"Okay, when I get to that door, you better have a darn good reason for bothering me, or you better run now 'cause I'll kill ya!" The two gulped slightly, debating on running, but before they could decide Anko whipped the door open. Iruka's blush deepened as Anko was wearing only a loose robe, Naruto trying not to laugh as she wasn't even sure yet if Anko was going to kill them or not. Said woman was busy staring in surprise at Iruka and slowing gaining her own blush.

"Oh, um…hi, Iruka-kun." She gripped her robe a little more closed. "So, uh, what are you guys doing here?"

"Anko neechan, I'm taking the exam, remember? And Iruka was the one summoned when we opened the scrolls."

"Ah, right of course. Um, I guess, come in? Or no, I should, but you could wait in the-" Iruka, overcoming his shock gave Anko a quick peck on the lips.

"If you really need to rest, we won't keep you." Anko softened, relaxing at the kiss, and chuckled.

"Gosh, I'm acting like a nervous school girl. Get your butts in here and wait on the couch. I'll get changed."

"Thanks neechan!" Naruto pushed past her into the room to get more space on the couch. The couple at the door laughed at the short blonde's antics, sharing another quick kiss before Anko went to change.

"Sorry I forgot about you getting her today, Naruto," Anko called out from her room.

"No problem. If I'd known you didn't get any sleep, I would have waited to see you." It was a moment before Anko replied.

"Actually, I was resting for…a different reason. You should fill Iruka-kun in on what happened yesterday, then I'll finish it up when I'm done in here." Iruka raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I take it something big happened?" Naruto nodded slowly, grin wiped from her face.

"Yeah; things were actually going pretty good until…" and Naruto told the story about how they had their run in with Orochimaru, fighting his snakes (especially the way she got swallowed the first time) and the sand sibs intervention and insistence on remaining with her. She paused when it came to where she had the conversation with Temari and Kankuro about her parentage, deciding to gloss over it until she'd talked with jii-san, and got to where Anko showed up to make sure she was okay.

"Speaking of which, where is jii-san? I still need to talk with him," Naruto said, looking at Anko, now sitting by Iruka's side.

"He said he may have an idea what it is you want to talk about, but that he wants to wait until after the second exam is over and he can make sure the two of you are alone." She shrugged. "I don't know what it is you want to talk about, but if hokage-sama things you two need to be alone, it must be pretty big. Something up with foxy, Naruto?" Naruto shook her head.

"No, fur ball's been quite for a while now. Last time was wave, and that's really it, but I'd rather not talk about the other thing, just now." The adults nodded, giving in to Naruto's request.

"Alright, now I guess I pick up the story."

"Pick it up? Isn't that all there is?"

"Sure seems like enough for me," Iruka muttered, not happy with how events were unfolding. "I'm not even sure hokage-sama would want me to know about most of this." Anko patted his leg.

"It's okay, I made sure to ask him. After all, I don't want to keep the next part a secret from you. You deserve to know about any…baggage, I have."

"Baggage?" Anko nodded.

"Yes. After I left Naruto and the others, I headed straight for the tower, but sensei decided to pay me a visit," she said. Iruka gave a sharp intake of breath, unconsciously pulling Anko closer. "I, I tried to fight him, but he's still so far above my league," she said. "I, I had a jutsu I could have used, but it would have, would have killed us both, and I didn't want to just die anymore. I, I'd hate myself for not saying goodbye to you to first," she said, tears slowly rolling down her eyes.

"I'm a kunouchi, a special jounin! I should be afraid to die," she said, gripping Iruka flack jacket and crying into it. "Why do I have to love you so much now? Why can't I die to protect you?" Iruka and Naruto, who jumped up immediately to help, hugged Anko fiercely.

"Neechan, I don't want you to die, either. I'm glad you didn't use the jutsu."

"Me too," Iruka said softly, combing Anko's loose hair gently with his fingers. "If you _had_ died, I'm not sure I could have stopped myself from going after him, and we all know how that would have ended. Sometimes, my love, it's better to live than to die in service of the village, and against Orochimaru…" He let it hang in the air. They both knew how much Anko wanted to be the one to kill her sensei, but even _she_ should know she wasn't ready yet. Of course, that wasn't the part that made her jerk her head up and stare at the chuunin.

"Did, did you say…" Iruka blushed, scratching the back of his head.

"Heheh, yeah, I guess I did." Anko looked down slightly, uncharacteristically shy.

"Did you mean it?"

"Did you," he asked softly.

"…yes, I did. With all my heart."

"And I love you with all mine." Anko squealed, embracing and kissing her boyfriend enthusiastically, almost smooshing a now _very_ embarrassed Naruto between them.

"Hey, comforting hug here," she called out indignantly. She was, of course, happy for her teacher and sister. They'd been dating for a good while now, and it was good to see them consciously reaching the next step. Anko and Iruka separated, apologizing to Naruto even though neither could get rid of the silly grins on their faces, even as Anko finished the story of her encounter with her old sensei, showing the two most important people in her life her curse mark, something she'd kept even from them in the past. Naruto's eyes widened. The girl fingered the mark, able even now to feel the malevolence coming from it.

"He, he did this to you yesterday?" Anko shook her head.

"No, it was his last 'gift' to me when I was still his apprentice, he just activated it yesterday, and even since then it's been a stabbing pain. Well, it _was_, at least. Hokage-sama put a seal around it first thing this morning before he left. Now it's just like needles. That's why I was resting when you guys got here." Iruka pulled her into another hug.

"I'm sorry, Anko-chan. I wish there was more that we could do to help." The special jounin snuggled into his chest.

"Just you being here, and not caring about my past is enough," she said. She sighed when Naruto's stomach growled loudly. "Well, guess someone still needs to eat. I'm famished myself, to be honest."

"Well, I guess I'll just have to treat you, eh?" Anko suck out her tongue.

"To the towers cafeteria food? Bleagh."

"What's wrong with cafeteria food?" The adults stared at her. "Do they have ramen?"

"…yes, they should, but I doubt that it's-"

"Well, then let's go get some!" Anko shook her head as Naruto rushed out the door.

"She never did have good taste buds." Iruka nodded.

"Well, I guess we'll have to wait for tonight for the meal I packed." Anko raised an eyebrow.

"You were planning on a picnic in the middle of the forest of death?" Iruka blushed.

"Actually, I was putting it together for when the exam was over, but I can always get more then, so now seems like a good time. After Naruto realizes that cafeteria ramen isn't too good." Anko laughed and they followed Naruto to bad food central.

.

.

.

"I don't have much time," said the pale snake man as he stood in front of the kazekage's desk. "Do you have a fourth child or not?" The kazekage was busy trying to figure out what his children were up to.

"I, almost had one, but my wife ran away, disappearing. She was gone and never found. This girl, though, she doesn't look like me at all! But why would those kids…" Orochimaru shook his head. This man was wasting his time. Still, he supposed it was true. When he thought about it, that girl had much more in common with that foolish yondaime than this man.

"Fine, I'll take your word for, but you need to find out what your brats are up to or they might ruin our plans." The kage nodded, looking out the window, brow furled.

"Yes, yes I do. I think I'll have Baki send me a message…" Orochimaru shook his head. _How stupid is this man anyway?_

"Too easy to intercept. I'll pass him a message and have him tell one of my subordinates, and we'll get the message to you." The other man nodded.

"Yes; yes that sounds good." He raised his hand, dismissing the sannin. _Oh, I am going to enjoy killing you _very_ much,_ the snake sannin thought. _Yes, _very_ much._

.

.

.

Things were pretty relaxed for the next few days. It didn't take them long to find out that team Kurenai had already finished the exam yesterday without incident. They _almost_ set a new record, but they were about 20 minutes shy, much to Kiba's disappointment. Thinking of safety in numbers, they tended to eat their meals together, Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji joining them the next evening. Naruto introduced them to Temari and Kankuro, but Gaara kept himself in a corner, and no one was sure they wanted to get to know him anyway. They were surprised enough as it was that Naruto was being friendly with genin from another village already.

"I mean, come on, we're fighting against them, aren't we," Kiba said.

"Yeah, well, Temari at least is pretty nice, and they really helped us out of a bind," Naruto said, not wanting to go into details as to _why_ the sand sibs wanted to hang out with her.

"Hey, I'm totally cool," Kankuro claimed indignantly.

"Says a guy who wears make-up," Ino mumbled.

"It's war paint!" What surprised everyone was that Kankuro wasn't the only one to yell that; Kiba had joined in.

"What a drag," Shikamaru mumbled, laying his head down and covering his ears as a debate over the difference between war paint and makeup ensued. Hinata giggled at Kiba's antics, who was annoyed that he found himself agreeing with the creepy guy from sand.

The next day brought another group on shinobi that the leaf genin would have considered best avoided. It was the team from sound, and their desire to kill Sasuke _was_ something that had been shared.

Zaku, Kin, and Dosu walked through the doors dividing the entrance hall from the main hallway/courtyard, which connected most of the rest of the tower. It was just after the rookies had finished lunch and they were heading back to their rooms or to the small training area to pass the time. The two groups stared each other down before Dosu grunted and turned towards to the cafeteria.

"Man, they _are_ creepy," Kiba said. "I mean, just look at how that one guys covers his face!"

"You should be more careful what you say," Shino said, speaking up. "Sometimes people have good reasons to cover their faces." Kiba and several others sweat dropped.

"Hey, come on, I didn't mean it like that man! If you didn't talk so weird-" Naruto laughed at the two of them as the group continued down the hallway, stopping in surprise when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Kin. Her eyes narrowed.

"What do you want?" Kin looked down.

"I, I wanted to thank you, for saving me, I mean." Naruto continued to look at her suspiciously.

"Yeah? Well, if you hadn't attacked us there wouldn't have been a need, you know." Kin nodded.

"I know, and, for what it's worth, I'm sorry. Our master told us to go after the Uchiha, but I, I'm not really sure what to think now, after what you guys said. All I know is that I would have died if you hadn't stopped that guy from Suna." There was an awkward silence.

"Well, your welcome, but I've gotta go." The blonde turned to leave, once again stopped by the girl.

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"You said it yourself, if we hadn't attacked you, there wouldn't have been a need, and we were trying to kill your boyfriend even. Why did you help us?" Naruto scratched behind her head.

"Well, I don't know. Gaara, he's just a bit, off. He takes things to far. I mean, you guys were beat anyway, right? What was the point in killing you." She shook her head. "I think people just need to learn this lesson. I know that's stupid, and everyone tells me so, but everyone deserves another chance, an opportunity to learn better. If I didn't give people a second chance, how can I expect one myself? Its second chances that gave me some of the most important people in my life, including Sasuke-kun. We used to hate each other…a lot, but know I can't imagine life without him." Naruto blushed. "Man, I sound like an idiot, but that's why I did what I did."

"Actually, that makes sense to me. Most of us in sound are living on a second chance. Our leader found us in the worst of circumstances and gave us another shot. It's good to know that someone else believes in seconds chances, so, thanks again," Kin said, grateful smile on her face. Naruto waved it off, a little embarrassed, but mostly surprised at someone not calling her stupid for her philosophy.

"No sweat. All I did was tell him to stop, anyways."

"Still, if it wasn't for you, I'd be dead, so thanks." Naruto smiled awkwardly.

"So…friends?" Kin hesitated. She…wasn't used to the idea of friends, especially now that she belonged to a different village. Every other village was the enemy, right? Especially Konoha, the village that betrayed her leader. But, Naruto had saved them, and she wasn't even born back then, right? So, did _everyone_ have to be an enemy? She held out a hand.

"Friends." As the two separated, Kankuro detached himself from the shadows where he'd been watching. Sound was an even bigger part of the invasion plan than sand. After all, it was sound that came to them with the idea. Was this girl becoming friends with Naruto and planning to betray her? Gaara was great for the physical protection, but he was still messed up in his head and didn't understand emotions. So, it was his job to look out for his sister this way. He came up behind the sound girl in the hallway after making sure no one else was around.

"Hey, saw you talking to Naruto." Kin jumped slightly. She hadn't known anyone else was in the hallway with her, much less present for her talk with the blondie.

"Yeah, what of it," she said, eying him warily. He held up his hands to show he wasn't trying to be aggressive.

"Hey, sorry 'bout scaring you. It's just, we've gotten to know Naruto, too, and she's a real special girl." Kin softened. Slightly.

"Yeah, she is." Her eyes narrowed again. "That doesn't excuse what you guys tried to do, though."

"Hey, I wasn't even there, but that's beside the point. Gaara has issues, as I'm sure you noticed. He's always out to kill, and we just do our best to rein him in. You think you know Naruto's special? Check this: Gaara doesn't stop when he gets that close for _anyone_. Naruto succeeded where no one else could; _that's_ how special she is." Kin nodded, moderately shell shocked.

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"Like I said, Naruto's special, and she's made me realize something."

"And what's that?" Kankuro gave his own soft smile.

"We always say that our first loyalty is to our village, right? Well, there's a bond stronger than any loyalty to your village, and that's the one to your friends, your _real_ friends. People that care about you and would give anything for you. You treat Naruto right, she'll be that kind of friend, but you've got to _be_ that kind of friend." His face hardened as he looked her straight in the eye.

"Sound doesn't like Konoha, I get that, but you better not be messing with Naruto. If you're only pretending to be her friend, if you can't hold to that friendship when the testing comes, I'll personally make sure that you regret that decision." Kin suppressed a shiver clinging to her back, for more reasons than one. How could he know about her village? Why was he _so_ protective of this girl he barely knew? And what made him need to tell her that friends were higher than village? It's not like they were in a war or anything, right? She took a breath.

"I want to be her friend, but why should that take precedence over my village." Kankuro eyed her suspiciously, staying silent for a long time.

"Kin, you alright? We've been looking everywhere for you." Kin started as Dosu walked down the hall. "This punk giving you trouble?" Kin looked back at Kankuro, whose gaze had not left her own.

"No, no, he's not. He was…giving me some advice, I guess." She turned to walk down the hall with her teammate. Before going around the corner, she paused to speak to Kankuro one last time.

"I'm not sure why you said all that, but trust me, I value her friendship, and I'm going to do my best to do right by her." Dosu raised an eyebrow as they left Kankuro alone in the hallway. The puppet user stayed there for a while, cogs turning as he considered everything he'd heard. Could it really be what he thought? He would need to talk to Temari and Baki about this.

.

.

.

The final day of the second exam came, and every team that would arrive, had. It was a surprising number. Anko had wanted to grate her teeth at how many had made it. She'd never hear the end of it from Ibiki. Still, she knew what was coming, so she sent out for from medics from the hospital. After a few moments consideration, she also sent an invitation to a couple medics at small clinics, like that Amaru guy Naruto had told her about. This would be a good chance for the village to find out just how good this new comer was, and he seemed a little suspicious to her anyway. She decided this would be a good way to keep an eye on him in a controlled setting for anything out of the ordinary.

Back in the village, Amaru was just about to open shop when a shinobi appeared, giving him the invitation.

"Oh, this many teams have passed? Must be a good group, yes?" The shinobi shrugged.

"Maybe. They might have gotten lucky, too. After all, how else can you explain all of Konoha's rookie teams making it?" Amaru rubbed his chin.

"My my, that is impressive. I think it'll be worth it to accept just to see how talented they are." Look down at the invitation again. "When will the main group be leaving, exactly, and from where?"

"Well, I was supposed to escort you myself after you gathered your supplies, but if you wanted to leave with the main group, it's going to be in an hour and a half at the main gates to the forest." Amaru bowed.

"Thank-you. I just want to get a friend that I think would like to come."

"Hold on! You can't just bring anyone you want, it's against regulations." Amaru did some quick thinking.

"Well, actually, I was going to fetch a girl by the name of Haku. She's a friend of the hokage's granddaughter, and very skilled, I've noticed. I understand she used to be a traveling shinobi, and she's done some work here at my clinic. Very helpful girl, and I'd like to have her along so that there's someone I already know how to work with accompanying me." The shinobi's faced twitched as he tried to find a proper reaction.

"Bah, fine, go get her. Tell me what to pack and I can still escort the two of you if you get back within the hour." Amaru bowed.

"Arigato, shinobi-san. I'll be back soon. Just pack the things on my emergency list on my desk. Here's my keys." The shinobi grumbled, but headed in to pack the medics things as Amaru headed to the Yamanaka flower shop Haku was working at. When he got there he was informed that she was actually on a Saturday morning date, but Ino's mother knew where she was, and she suspected Haku would prefer to be _off_ the date. She crinkled his nose.

"He just didn't seem like a very nice young man," she said. "Don't know why a girl as nice as Haku even bothered saying yes."

"Well, if he's as bad as that, at least we know Haku can handle herself." The woman chuckled.

"Yes, that's quite true. Oh, and can you tell my daughter congratulations for me? A rookie, and she made it through the second exam!" She shook her head. "I guess she'd got it in her after all."

"Very well, I'll tell her. Have a good day, Yamanaka-san." Several minutes later he managed to find Haku, and it turned out that Ino's mother was correct. Haku was _not_ enjoying herself. Her date had taken her to a cheap restaurant and was being rather loud and boisterous. Amaru cringed. He knew that type fairly well. He was a poser, trying to act macho man so he could get girls to bed, never realizing that it took a really stupid, or a desperate, girl to fall for their act. Haku was neither. She was resting her chin in her left hand while stirring her drink with her right, totally bored and annoyed.

"Ah, Haku, glad I found you. I thought you'd like to know that Naruto passed the second exam." The ex-missing nin's face lit up.

"Really? That's great! Where is she now?" The boy was frozen, stopped mid sentence in shock as he was completely ignored.

"Actually, the caliber of all the teams seems to have high. They need to hold a preliminary round before announcing the third exam, so they called in myself and a few others to take care of the injured during the prelims, and I thought you'd enjoy being there to cheer Naruto on." Haku immediately stood up, almost knocking over the drinks.

"That sounds like a great idea. Let's go."

"Um, yeah, hey, give me second and I'll come-"

"Oh, sorry, but I could barely get them to let Haku come. I'm afraid you'll have to stay here." The unspoken word _punk_ was clearly communicated through his eyes as the young man slowly sat down.

"Um, right, of course." He braved a grin. "Well uh, we'll finish next time, Haku-chan?"

"Shoo shoo, back to the clinic, I'll be right behind you." As soon as Haku was at the edge of the plaza Amaru dropped his grin. "No, there won't be a next time. I've seem plenty of boys like yourself, and Haku is important to someone who is important to me. You don't even realize anyway how special this girl is. Leave her alone, or you won't have to worry about her own ninja skills. I'll castrate you myself." The boy nodded, trying to surreptitiously cross his legs. Amaru grinned. Obviously his message was received, especially if the new odor was any sing. "Good to know we have an understanding. Good day," he said, leaving as the boy tried to call for a waiter to get some more napkins.

"Thank-you," Haku said when he turned the corner she was waiting around. "I wasn't sure how much longer I could stand that guy. I was about ready to start freezing his drink when ever he took a sip." Amaru chuckled.

"Well, that would have been a sight. Can you melt it as quickly as you freeze it?" Haku nodded. "Well, that _poor_ boy would have been so confused. Too bad you weren't doing that when I came to get you." Haku shrugged.

"I just think it's too bad I wasted a morning I could have been working going on this date." She scowled. "I need that money to pay rent, and now I'm going to be behind." Amaru rubbed his chin again.

"Well, I've got enough spare cash. I can help you out this time, but you really should be more careful with whatever you're spending you money on." Haku blushed.

"I know. I, I'm just so used to, to Zabuza sama taking care of the money that I let myself get careless. I already started setting a budget, but then that boy asked me out. I've never been on a date before, and it felt so nice, a boy telling me I was beautiful. I should have known better. Zabuza taught me better than this." Amaru put a hand on her shoulder.

"You know, I was young once. Granted, I was guy, but I know how you feel, and dating is different than being a shinobi. The way people do things is completely different, especially how guys ask girls out. It's hard to tell, sometimes, especially when you start out. Until you learn, you have plenty of people who care that will look out for you." She looked at him confused.

"But, you and Naruto aren't always around, and Naruto barely knows more about dating than I do!" Amaru laughed.

"Yamanaka-san cares about you, too, you know. Feel free to ask her if she thinks you should date someone, or just about dating in general." Haku nodded, surprised and contemplating her relationship with her boss.

"Thank-you," she said. "I'll have to remember that."

"No problem," Amaru said with his usual kind smile. "Now," he continued, ruffling her hair, "let's get going. I'm sure you want to say hi to Naruto."

"Hai."

* * *

**Alright, I think i did alot better this time with Haku and Amaru, but what do you guys think? Doing okay?**

**Oh, and how about Iruka and Anko, eh? Nice realization for them, don't you think? *smirk* ..sigh...i miss _my_ hime...love you sweety!**

**Let's see...well, nothing else i can think of that really needs a comment. Look for a new round of prelims next chapter! As himeflye already knows, some things will be different, but a lot of the fights got changed! I'm going to try and get it all in one chapter, though, even though their's a couple more fights than there is in the canon.  
**

**One last thing: for those of you who found this story some other way than it being near of the top of the list, I'm interested to know how people find my story besides recent updates. Just something I'm curious about.**

**Take care yawl, and agin, please review!**


	21. Reconciliation

**Okay, FINALLY we get to the prelims. For those of you who are fairly observant, you may have noted the absence of a certain teams death back in the forest. Well, without dying, they made it to the preliminaries, so we'll have an extra fight or two, and several of the fights (though not all) will be different than in cannon. The cannon fights tend to have little writing time devoted to them, however, so don't worry about that. The new fights, though...several of those are _significant _in a big way for the characters, especially Naruto's. Sadly, it was taking me longer than I'd hoped to write the fights, so I'm splitting the preliminaries into two chapters (I promise, unlike those other times where i've made guesses about the number of chapters it will take to do something, this WILL be done in JUST two chapters)**

**Oh, and a secret will finally be exposed to the world in this chapter, though not until the very end. Heheh; a gossip like _this_ character and it's impossible not to. Not to mention it comes out while the characters are out in the open and everyone can see it.**

**notice-ff style, disclaimer no jutsu!**

* * *

It didn't take long before they reached the tower and were shown the where the medical supplies were stored. Amaru began to take a careful catalogue of the current supplies as he waited for the main contingent to arrive, Haku at his side…until the guard left.

"Alright, since we both know you've never _really_ assisted me before, I think you should make your get away now while no one is around to see." Haku laughed softly.

"Amaru, you make me really wonder what you did before coming here…but thanks." Amaru flashed his usual soft smile.

"Oh I was a medic, but I was a teenage before that. I learned how to sneak around then. Now go on, shoo; get moving."

"Hai," Haku replied, bowing. She glanced at the red haired man once again, intent on the supplies before she left. She knew he was hiding something, but he went out of his way to help them. It was…odd. Of course, she'd never really lived around other people enough to experience this side of them, and she had things she didn't want other people to know about either. Everyone had their secrets, including Naruto. It had taken Haku a little while to realize where her extra power and speed had come from, but after a few weeks in the leaf village, she had managed to piece together Naruto's status of jinchuuriki. She had wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Once a power like that was set off, there would have been no way for either her or Zabuza to win. It had been pointless from the beginning. Still, Gato had already planned to betray them, so Naruto was still not at fault for the death of her master, and she had found herself being happy here, besides the lame dates.

Several minutes later Haku was still walking the halls, trying to figure out where the gennin where that had completed the exam. Naruto should be here, shouldn't she? But she'd barely even seen anyone besides a team of gennin from Ame. She sighed, deciding to ask for directions from the next group she saw.

"Excuse me, but you wouldn't be able to help me, would you?" Dosu turned, raising his revealed eye at the attractive girl.

"Hm. Can't guarantee it," he said, "but spit it out and we'll see." Haku decided she didn't like these nin.

"I'm trying to find any gennin from the hidden leaf. One of my friends is a leaf gennin, and I was wondering if she had passed."

"You don't mean Naruto, do you?" Haku blinked at the girl that had spoken up. They knew who Naruto was? Well, should she really be surprised? Naruto was, after all, Naruto.

"Yes, that's her. Is she here then?" Kin nodded.

"Yeah; I was actually wanting to talk to her anyway, so now's a good time to go find her. I think I know where her team is."

"Kin," Zaku said, "do you really think that's a good idea? You know what leader-sama would say." Kin narrowed her eyes.

"Hey, I can think for myself, Zaku, so leave me alone. I just have something to discuss with Naruto."

"But leader-sama," Zaku began, speaking loudly.

"Shut up Zaku." Dosu looked deeply into Kin's eyes. "You will be safe, right?" She nodded. "Hurry up and get back soon. Remember, they called for a meeting in the main hall in about another hour."

"No sweat, I'll be back in plenty of time. Now come on," she said to Haku, "we need to get moving."

"Alright, thanks." Haku looked back at the two boys as she left with the girl Kin. Dosu was hard to pin, but Zaku…he had something against them. What was going on there?

"Sorry about them, but they can both be a bit…opinionated."

"What was that about 'leader-sama.' Your buddy Zaku seemed to think he would disapprove." Kin winced.

"Well, leader-sama was wronged by leaf nin, a long time ago. Zaku holds it personally, but I don't think that that should be held against Naruto. After all, she saved our lives back in the forest."

"What?"

"You'll have to ask her for the story. Until I know for sure that you're her friend, I don't think it's my place to tell."

"I suppose that makes sense. You met Naruto during the second exam then?" Kin nodded. "And yet you seem to be friendly with her. _And_ you say she saved your life. That seems a bit odd." She turned to look forward as Kin kept her silence. "Naruto, you have the _most_ interesting life."

.

.

.

"FINALLY! I've been waiting all WEEK for this!"

"Calm down, Naruto. Just because we finished ahead of most of the other teams doesn't give us the right to get ahead on the next exam, even if hokage-sama is your grand-father." Naruto huffed, blowing her bangs out of her eyes.

"She's right, Naruto," Sasuke put in. "We all need to learn a little patience. The second exam was much harder than the first, even if you _do_ prefer fighting to a written test. At least in the written test we didn't have to risk our lives."

"Yeah, but it's so _boring_ here! I want some fun!"

"What, playing with your teammates isn't fun enough, Naruto-chan?" Naruto did a double take as she looked down the hall.

"Haku-chan," she yelled, rushing to hug her friend. "What are you doing here? Isn't it dangerous to go through the forest on your own? Did jii-san bring you? How's the flower shop? Have you-"

"Naruto! I'm fine, honest," Haku laughed. "Amaru got invited to provide medical support during the prelims and extended the invitation to me. I've been dying knowing you've been out there in that forest with the Gaara kid." Kin balked.

"Wait, what? But, doesn't he like you guys?" Sasuke let loose a low growl as Naruto and Sakura shook their heads.

"Gaara's been going around saying that Naruto here is his sister, even going so far as stalking her." Kin gasped.

"But, what about the other two?" Naruto scratched her head.

"That's the weird part. They all believe it, but to them it only means being nice to me. To Gaara? Well, safe to say he's just plain creepy. He keeps pushing and pushing, but Temari and Kankuro are cool." Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Naruto, you _really_ need to stop being so naive."

"And _you_ need to stop being so cynical. I'm being carefully, Sasuke-kun. Just trust me on this one. Temari and Kankuro won't hurt me, and they won't try anything. Gaara's the only one we have to worry about." Sasuke grumbled.

"Well, anyway, how about we take a walk while you fill me in. From what Kin here told me, you've had an interesting week." Naruto laughed heartily.

"Yeah, you could say that," she said, throwing an arm over Haku's shoulders and grabbing Kin. "Come on, it's your story too. I'll see you guys later, k?"

"Just make sure you get back in time, Naruto." She smiled at her boyfriend.

"Believe it." As they traversed the halls, Haku was filled in on what happened in the forest, including Kin's admission that they had been ordered to eliminate Sasuke. Her eyes narrowed considerably, but wasn't sure what to think considering Orochimaru's seeming double agenda.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Kin pulled at her hair nervously.

"I'm…not sure. Dosu, he kinda makes the decisions a lot, but he's been quiet. I think he's sorting things out in his head before he makes a decision. Zaku? Well…" She looked to the side. "Like most of us in Sound, he's fiercely loyal to Orochimaru-sama."

"And you?" Kin looked at the slightly taller girl.

"I'm not sure yet. I don't like being lied to like that, but I want to be Naruto's friend. I just…I don't know what to do…" _There's a bond stronger than any loyalty to your village, and that's the one to your friends._ "But I'm going to give this friendship thing a try." Haku nodded slowly as Naruto looked back and forth between the two rapidly.

"Alright. You wouldn't tell me things earlier because you weren't sure if I was actually Naruto's friend. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt Kin. However, Naruto is my most precious person. If you do anything to hurt her or betray her trust, I'll personally make sure you regret it." Kin stared wide eyed as Naruto spoke up, trying to change the subject and asking Kin about her taijutsu style. She answered, but Haku's words echoed in her head. _Just like him…what is it about this girl?_

.

.

.

"She's going to be late!"

"No, she won't. She doesn't take after sensei like _that_." Sakura huffed.

"Hey, I'm not that bad!"

"Shut up, sensei!" Kakashi sweat dropped. _I'm late a few times and this is what happens? Where did the respect go for the legendary copy-cat ninja?_

"Well, we've only got a couple of minutes, all the other teams are here, and she's no where in sight!"

"Ah come on, give her a break! She just got a visit from her friend," Kiba said, butting into the conversation. "She'll be back, though. Has she ever let you down yet?" Sakura sighed.

"Fine, you're right. But if she doesn't get here on time, I'm gonna-"

"Jii-san!" Most of the waiting gennin jumped as a blonde blur zipped past them to tackle the regal looking old man in his chair. He didn't look quite as regal at the moment with his chair knocked over and blob of orange clinging to him.

"Naruto," he gasped, trying not to let Naruto collapse his lungs, "it's good to see you, too, but we'll talk right after this, okay?" Naruto jumped up, blushing and scratching the back of her head.

"Heheh; sorry jii-san. It's just, what with all that's been going on, I've been really looking forward to seeing you." Standing up he patted her on the head while his anbu attendants righted his chair.

"Don't worry about it. Now, go join your team. They've been worried that you wouldn't make it back on time." Naruto blushed.

"Sorry. I was talking with some friends." The hokage raised his eyebrow as he saw Kin taking her place with her team and Haku walking up to the rafters.

"I see. Not something I would have expected. Be careful, okay?"

"Of course! Better let you get started, though." She gave him another hug (a _gentle_ one) and joined her team.

"Dobe." She flashed Sasuke a grin.

"Teme." The rest of them seven rolled their eyes.

"Hey brats, congrats on proving me right; less than half of you made it through the forest of death. For those that didn't make it we're sending sweeper teams to help them get out…though for some it's a good thing we had them sign those forms, heheheh." A shiver went down the backs of several people as Anko continued. "Well, the second exam is now over. The preparations for the third exam begin now, but first you'll hear a few words from the leaf villages very own Sandiame Hokage."

"Alright," Sarutobi began, raising his voice. "Welcome, gennin, to the end of the second round of the chuunin exams. Your villages are very proud you and the skill you've displayed thus far. However, I have a little bit to tell you before moving on. I don't like confusion, so I'm going to clear up for you, the _true_ reason for this exam.

"You see, as we said before, the purpose for the exam is to promote international-shinobi unity and friendship. The real reason for this exam, dating back to the days of the shinobi wars, is to be a substitution for war." Several of the younger gennin gave outbursts at this comment, and continued to do so as Sarutobi answered each of their questions and moved on, explaining how the exams showed the future strength of each village to the spectators of the third exam, nobles and leaders of every country, and how the original institution used this as a substitute for the great losses of life in the shinobi wars.

"So in way, it does promote friendship, but remember: you are fighting for the honor and prestige of your village and your country. The better your perform, the more clients your village gets, and we expect each of you to perform at your best. And now, moving on to the third exam, I-" A cough interrupted the hokage, who gave his attention to a sickly looking jounin.

"Hokage-sama, as the proctor for the third exam, would you allow me to explain from here on out?"

"Of course, Hayate-san. Go ahead," he said, settling back in his chair.

"*Cough*. Thank-you, hokage-sama." He turned to address the assembled gennin.

"Before we continue, as per chuunin exam rules, we are going to hold a round of preliminary matches to cut down the number of examinees in the third exam."

"What? Why?"

"Yeah! We worked hard to get this far!"

"Exam rules? How does that make sense?" *cough*

"As Hokage-sama said, there are going to be many visitors for the final exam, and if there are *cough* too many examinees, the matches will take took long, so we will hold these prelims to lower your numbers and preserve our possible clients time." He motioned to a screen on the wall and the balcony above them.

"As you have noticed, this area is shaped and set up as a combat arena. On the screen above we will randomly match up two gennin at a time to fight in one on one matches of elimination. *cough* You'll each wait on the balcony above for your turn, but before we begin, if you want to drop out now due to injury or exhaustion, tell us now and we'll remove your name from the grouping." He waited a few moments, and the gennin named Kabuto who had talked to them before the first exam raised his hand.

"Well, getting here took too much out of me. I can't fight."

"Hmmm…Kabuto of the leaf. Alright, we'll strike you out. Anyone else?" A moment later and he continued. "Very well, we'll get the random selection program up and running. Please wait on the balcony above.

The various teams walked up to the balcony as the program was set to randomly select opponents. The screen scrolled through the names of the gennin from each team for what seemed forever until the top and bottom displayed the first opponents.

_Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akado Yoroi_

"Alright Sasuke, kick his butt." The Uchiha nodded.

"Of course. See you in the finals."

"Hey, you going to talk all day, or are we going to fight," called the other nin from below, more than ready to start the fight.

"Hey, Sasuke's gonna beat you in hardcore, and don't you forget! So how about you learn a little patience!" Sasuke winced, clearing his ear with a finger.

"And here I thought Sakura was the loud one," to which the pink haired girl pushed him off the balcony to the battle arena below.

"Next time I'll _really_ push," she called down as the boy flipped in the hair to land with his feet spread wide and a hand coming down for balance.

"Guess I better start working on my dodging," he said. "Oh well, let's get this over with, eh?"

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Yoroi said, cracking his knuckles.

"*cough*. Well, if you're ready then, begin," Hayate said, bring his hand down and jumping away.

Though it was challenging, it was a relatively quick match. Sasuke had had several days to rest from their encounter with the sannin, and there was nothing encumbering him. At full power he was much quicker than his older opponent, so even with his chakra siphoning technique he was no match for an Uchiha with his sharingan. Sasuke was able to track every movement of his hands and keep him from touching him until he got behind him chopped his neck, laying him out on the ground.

"Pheh; not even worth it," he said. "That enough, proctor, or should I humiliate the fool further." Hayate coughed.

"No, that's enough. Yoroi is unable to battle. Uchiha Sasuke proceeds to the finals."

"Alright! I knew you'd do it Sasuke!"

"Yeah, way to go Sasuke-kun!" The raven haired boy waved to his teammates from below as he came up to great them and wait to see the next set of gennin fight.

The sign began to quickly scroll through the names of the remaining chuunin hopefuls. _Come on, come on…Sasuke's already gone, now let me go!_ When the names finally flashed Naruto remained unsure whether to cheer or slump in defeat, but in the end adopted her happy attitude.

"Alright Temari, go for it! You can beat 'em!" The older girl flashed her little sister a wave before hopping down to the arena.

"What, they can't even give me a good fight?" Temari raised an eyebrow.

"And this coming from a short fatty?"

"Hey! I'm 18 you little brat!"

"Wow. Seventeen and still throwing tantrums. Well, looks like mommy's little girl is going to have to teach you a lesson," she said, grabbing her fan. "Should we start with the spanking?" Baiu growled, reaching to grab his umbrella.

"Procter, let's get this party started," he said. Hayate sighed.

"Alright then, begin." _Kids_, he thought. _Was I ever this cocky?_

"Take, _this!_" Baiu grabbed the two umbrellas from his back. "With this attack I can hit you from anywhere while I'm still moving. If you can't hit your opponent, then you have no chance of winning."

"Really? Well, I stand any attack from coming near me, and I can hit _you_ from anywhere in this whole from. Sorry, but you're going to loose, meatball."

"Eh! Meatball! That does it! Rapid fire senbon!" The two umbrellas began to shoot groups of senbon out, but Temari calmly opened her fan slightly and twisted. The gust of wind that came from it was astounding, and it not only blew away the incoming senbon, but knocked the umbrellas away as well.

"Like it? Me too. I've had control of the wind since I was a child. I once took out the whole academy building just by waving a fan during etiquette class. Still think you can win?" Baiu pulled himself up from where he'd fallen.

"It's impressive, but not impressive enough. Try defending from two sides at once." He threw the umbrella's up in the air once again, preparing to attack again as Temari 'tsk'ed at him.

"Didn't you notice I only opened my fan a little? I've got three purple dots on my fan, and with each one, I get more power. Here's the power of two dots," she said, swinging with fan again as he commenced his attack. The wind even knocked some of the spectators off their feet, though most of the experience shinobi latched onto the ground with their chakra. Baiu was old enough he'd learned that technique as well, and he was prepared this time. He remained standing, though it took a lot of effort, especially since he was trying to keep up his attack as well. "Add all three, and not only do I knock them away," she cried, "but I can direct them!" She proceeded to demonstrate, unfolding her fan all the way, and then all those senbon were flying back at their master, impaling him into the wall through his arms and legs. Several of the watching gennin wanted to hurl at the sight of the blood, but they managed to keep their breakfast down.

"Had enough? Don't make me force the issue." Baiu spat out the blood filling his mouth.

"Fine. You win." He hung his head. "I forfeit, you stupid girl."

"Aw, you're so cute when you whooped." She waved a hand. "Take him out of here. He'll be fine."

"Winner, Temari," the proctor called, giving the signal for the medics to carefully UN-impale him and carry him to the hospital wing for stitches, pain killers, and possibly a blood transfusion.

"Hey, wasn't that a little harsh Temari?" She shrugged.

"If Orochimaru _is_ leading sound, I want all reports saying that we're fully on board with the invasion plan," she said. "I _have_ to look merciless. Anything less will fool him. I'll take care of explaining something to Naruto later."

"Yeah, she doesn't look to happy with you."

"Too bad; she will learn to live with blood." Gaara gave a disgusted look. "She is far too soft. It is good we met her now rather than later. She would not have survived."

"Hey, you're not giving her enough credit," Kankuro told his little brother. "She's plenty strong-"

"But she's too trusting."

"Be that as it may, I think you might want to pay attention to the fights," Baki said. All three sand siblings look a moment to around and finally notice that two new combatants were in the arena…and Naruto didn't look happy.

.

.

.

"Wow…Temari always acts so nice. She wasn't like that before."

"Well, sometimes people act different when they're fighting," Kakashi said gently. He knew very well how people could change. He, for example, became much less casual when in true combat situations. Still, it seemed unusual for such a change as this one to occur. Knowing the sand siblings connection to Naruto, he'd observed them before the second exam started. She didn't seem quite this ruthless. He was happy Naruto was forming a positive bond with her sister, but something was off with all this. "I'm sure you can ask her about it later," he continued, "but for now, focus on the fights. Remember, even if it's not your own match, every person that wins will be an opponent I the final exam. Naruto and Sakura nodded, all of team seven turning to watch as screen scrolled through everyone's names. Naruto's heart fell when she saw the next two names.

"Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata, please come down." Sakura bit her lip as she grabbed Naruto's shoulder.

"It'll be okay. Maybe this will end well for you guys."

"Maybe…but she was my best friend. I, I don't think she's someone I _want_ to fight."

"But right now you need to, Naruto, just like Iruka needed to when he found out Mizuki was a traitor, but you two can still be friends afterwards. Just treat it like a spar between you and Sasuke." Naruto nodded.

"I guess I can do that." She looked over to her team as she jumped up on the railing. "Thanks guys."

"No problem. Just get down there already." The blonde nodded, taking her place in the arena where he once best friend waited.

"I never expected I would fight you," Naruto said to her.

"Nor I you, Naruto, but I won't let this stop me. I, I've still got to prove to him that, that I'm strong, too." Naruto hung her head.

"I wish you wouldn't. I just want my best friend back." A tear dropped from Hinata's eye.

"As do I, but, but I must prove my strength. I, I will not loose to you, Naruto-chan." She took her stance, glanced up at the balcony, ready to begin.

"Sorry, but I can't loose here either," she replied, also falling into her stance. Hayate looked back and forth between the two, raising his hand and dropping it.

"Begin."

Hinata's eyes activated, and chakra formed in her open palms as she and Naruto charged each other. _Okay, can't get hit. Hinata will shut me down if she does, even with my super fast healing. I've gotta play this one smart_. She winced. _Guess I'll have to try a bit more distance fighting this time around, but I need to know how fast she's gotten, first._

_Naruto has always been fast, and she's good at improvising. She knows to avoid getting hit, but she prefers close range fighting. All I have to do is keep her drawn in, and I can hit her._

Naruto and Hinata met in the middle for a brief clash. Their hands both moved quickly, Naruto knocking away Hinata's arms at the wrist as the Hyuuga tried to score a body hit in the short time they were next to each other, finally succeeded as Naruto tried to knock away a low blow, only to give Hinata access to her side.

"Aw, crap!" Naruto jumped away, throwing a handful of shuriken to keep Hinata from pursuing her as she clutched her side, breathing heavily. "Golly Hinata, you've gotten *huff* faster." Hinata smiled in spite of herself at the compliment.

"Arigato, Naruto. It was wise to keep me from following you." Naruto grinned.

"Yeah, but it would have been nice to find that out without…having to…" She slapped herself in the forehead. "Duh, shadow clones! I could have found out how fast you were without having to worry about getting hurt! Man I'm stupid." Hinata suppressed a giggle at her once friend's antics.

"It is too late now, Naruto. Now you will be slower, and I will have the advantage."

"Heheh; you might be faster right now, but I have numbers on my side!" She made the sign, and then several Naruto's appeared. _What can she mean? It's only her and myself, and clones can't…what is this?_ In the few seconds that elapsed between Naruto's declaration and the beginning of the clones charge, Hinata realized the contest may become one of stamina. Naruto's clones all possessed a chakra system, just like Naruto, and they were solid! The last was the greatest surprise to the young girl. She hadn't expected Naruto would possess such a jutsu. Though they were close friends, Naruto had been forbidden from telling anyone about that night, giving her the element of surprise against her friend. Hinata would be able to defeat each clone, but with Naruto's chakra capacity she may be able to outlast her. She had to think of a way to beat Naruto, and quickly. The problem was that each clone looked just like Naruto, even to the byakugan, and she knew Naruto wasn't the type to sit back and let others do the work, so that had to be a clone in the back, hanging back to avoid being hit. It would be just like Naruto to create a diversion, so how was she to find the real one? Strike, poof, strike, poof. Over and over with no end in sight, and her muscles were starting to wear down, but she couldn't let up or the real Naruto would attack her. Then, suddenly, the clones backed, disappearing.

"I'm sorry, Hinata, but you were wrong." Hinata turned to look at the 'clone' she had been so sure wasn't Naruto. "I had I feeling you'd suspect something, so I held back to heal up, and now my clones won't be at the same disadvantage they were before. You're running low on chakra, Hinata. Please, just surrender now." Hinata hung her head. She _was_ a failure after all. Would it really have hurt to try for the 'clone?' And now Naruto was right. She was slower now than when they started, and Naruto was almost fresh. Then she looked up and saw Kiba. He was smiling at Naruto.

_No! I, I won't let it end like this!_ Hinata's face became determined as she reassumed her stance.

"You may have the advantage Naruto, but you've taught me that even the most disadvantaged can still win, as long as they don't give up. I'm not done yet, and I don't go back on my word. I'm fighting for him, and as long as he's looking at you, I _can't_ give up!"

Naruto looked on in surprise and pride. Hinata had always been afraid, always too willing to give up, but just now she'd declared her purpose without even a stutter, even if she was looking at Sasuke-kun for…wait…wasn't Sasuke behind where Hinata was? Naruto looked over her shoulder, seeing Hinata's team, Kurenai-sensei, Shino, and Kiba. Gears started to turn, but Hinata's attack forced Naruto pay attention again. Caught off guard she was barely able to dodge the Hyuuga's attacks. They were quick and precise. Hinata was giving her no quarter, and no margin for error, and she wasn't slowing down. It seemed as thought Hinata was even stronger than she was when they started, and her attacks stronger.

_But still, if she wasn't looking at Sasuke, then who? Besides, not body likes me. Nobody else could be diverting their attention from Hinata. Sasuke's the only person to ever…kiss…me…_ Naruto's eyes widened.

"It's Kiba!" Naruto tripped over her feet as she came to the realization. Fortunately for her, Hinata did the same, not expecting her secret to be shouted out like that, not that anyone watching understood what was going on. They had no idea the history between the two.

"Wha, what are you, t, talking about," huffed Hinata as she stood up, taking her stance again and finally showing signs of wearing out. "Why bring him up now?"

"That's just it," Naruto said, quickly getting to her own feet. "I thought you liked Sasuke." Hinata wrinkled her nose.

"Sasuke?"

"Yeah, because I had just started dating him, and I thought you saw us." Hinata's eyes became hooded. "I didn't realize that, that you must have seen Kiba kissing me."

"And you kissed him back!" Hinata attacked again, full fury in her attack.

"I did not! I love Sasuke. I've been trying to get Kiba to leave me alone ever since then," she said quickly, trying to keep up and still talk quietly so she wouldn't embarrass her friend. She was getting her energy back as well, thinking about how this meant she could have her best friend back.

"Kiba just grabbed me in the alley that day. There was nothing I could do. Me and him aren't together, Hinata. I'm with Sasuke!"

"But Kiba-kun still looks at you!" Just then Hinata's eyes widened as she tried to turn around, but it was too late. Naruto gave her a chop to the neck, temporarily paralyzing her from the neck down. Hinata gave a wail of despair as she crumpled to the ground, unable to move.

Naruto's clone, which Hinata had been fighting all along, poofed away, and the real Naruto, wiping off dirt from the ground she'd been tunneling in, walked over and knelt down by Hinata as she was declared the winner.

"I lost; I lost…" Hinata was crying as she mumbled those words over and over.

"Maybe, but you fought real hard, Hinata-chan. To be honest, I wasn't sure I'd win for a long time there." Hinata tried to turn her head away, but could only close her eyes.

"He still only looks at you. I, I can still see him right now. He, he's only talking about you."

"Right now, but I'm gonna help you, Hinata-chan. You're my best friend, and even though you deserve better than a mutt that can't even notice you like him, I'm going to help you get him." Hinata reopened her eyes.

"But why? We, we aren't friend anymore, remember? I, I cast you off b, because of him, even if it w, was a mistake."

"Friends forgive each other," Naruto said, smiling widely and gripping Hinata's shoulder. "I could never be really happy without my Hinata-chan there beside me." Hinata managed to smile back, forcing her arm to move and grip Naruto's hand as well.

"Thank-you, Naruto-chan," she said, both their hearts swelling. "I, I'll never leave you again. And good luck with Sasuke-kun."

"Miss, we really need to get her to the hospital ward. She's out of chakra to the point where her system is starting to mold energy from the cells in her body. We need to get this taken care of now." Naruto nodded.

"I'll see you later, Hinata-chan."

"Like wise, Naruto-chan." With that they separated, Hinata giving in to the exhaustion that she'd been putting off. As everyone else got back to watching the screen, Naruto began walking over towards Kiba, who had been shouting out his congrats to her.

"Wow, that was great Naruto! The way Hinata was fighting I thought you were dead for sure! Man, who woulda thought she had it in her!"

"She was fighting for you, idiot," she said quietly.

"I mean man, the way you tricked her with that tunnel was just-"

"I said she was fighting like for _you_, dog breath!" The Inuzuka finally quieted, staring at her.

"What? For me? Why?"

"Because she likes you, and she saw us the day you kissed me. She hasn't talked to me like a friend since. You ruined our friendship chasing after a girl who was taken while another girl, a better one I might add, already liked you." Tears fell from Naruto's face as she clenched her fists, nearly drawing blood. "She just wanted you to acknowledge her, and all you can talk about is me. Give up, fuzzy. I've got a boyfriend. Get that through your thick skull. It's about time Hinata got her chance." The boy was left with nothing to say as Naruto walked around the rest of the balcony to rejoin her team.

"So, what was that about? Something to do with you shouting his name during the match?" Naruto nodded as she sat down and clutched her knees.

"Yeah. Remember how I told you Hinata broke off out friendship because she liked you?" Her boyfriend nodded. "I just guessed that. She never actually said the name of the guy she liked."

"And it was Kiba." She nodded. "So, what you talking with the mutt about."

"I told him to give up on me, and that even though she deserves better, he needed to give her a chance."

"Hn. Well, at least maybe he'll get off your back. He hasn't stopped staring into space since you walked away. You might wanna start cheering on Sakura, though. It looks like Ino's giving her a tough time."

"What!" Naruto jumped up, clutching the railing, all other thoughts forgotten as her teammate, like her, was fighting her once best friend. Ino was in the midst of trying to make Sakura forfeit after taking control of her mind, and Naruto's shouts of encouragement came just in time to help her break free, even if the match still ended in a double knockout.

"Man, what a bummer. I was really hoping she'd win."

"Too bad she couldn't get Ino to believe I wasn't interested in her."

"Eh?"

"Before you got back over she was telling Ino to give up, that I'd already chosen someone and it wasn't either of them." He rolled his eyes. "She went off on how Sakura was trying to trick her so she wouldn't have any competition." Naruto chuckled.

"Ah, my boyfriend the girl magnate. What ever shall I do," she said, grabbing his arm as the next match was announced and Ino and Sakura set down against the wall behind them.

"You don't need to do anything, really. You already enthralled me." Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Made me fall completely in love with you. Do you really need to make me dumb things down like that?"

"But sounds so much more romantic that way!"

"Whatever. Let's watch Shikamaru's match. It's one of those guys from the rain country. This team looks a lot different than that guy that tried to impersonate you. Might actually have a fighting chance."

Meanwhile, down below, a tall teen with a batch of umbrellas on his back and two huge scars on his right face complemented by two stitches in his lip stared at the diminutive leaf gennin with his one working eye. His name was Shigure.

"Honestly, this is the best they can give me? A little punk like you? Don't make me laugh." Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders.

"It's a drag, but mom would kill me if I didn't actually try." Shigure growled.

"Why even both trying. You're just a plain rookie, barely twelve years old. I'm an experiences gennin with an unblockable jutsu. Give up now and I'll spare your life."

"Mah, let's just get this over with."

"Begin." Without wasting a second Shigure grabbed his umbrella's and tossed them into the air. He continued to hold his hands over his head as he concentrated on controlling the jutsu.

"Now you'll see why you should have forfeited. Senbon rainstorm!" Many looked on in awe as the senbon shot out of the umbrellas. His teammate had used a similar move, but with far fewer needles. "This is my unblockable attack. Left, right, up, down, forward, back; there's no escape from this death, and since you've already ticked me off, I'm afraid it's time for you to die!" Another movement of his hands and the senbon, which had been swirling around the Nara, turned and pointed inward, impaling the leaf gennin.

"Hah! That's the match proctor. Hope you won't miss him. Now I-" He paused, wondering why his hands wouldn't move, surprise becoming fear as it dawned on him that he couldn't move at all. "Hey, what's going on here?"

"Shadow possession jutsu," Shikamaru commented lazily from behind him. Still able to see the 'ninja' he had impaled, he saw it poof away into a log. "And a substitution. Anyone can tell you control the movement of the senbon with your hands, so I let you attack so I could observe your controls a little longer. If I've got this right," he said, motioning with his own hands, "I should be able to perform the same techniques.

"You little brat! It takes years of work to master such a technique!"

"Good thing I don't need to master it. You already did." Sure enough, Shikamaru managed to move the senbon whirlwind so that it circled the Amen in. "Earlier you said I'd already ticked you off so you weren't going to give me a chance to surrender. Well, it'd be too troublesome to make someone have to clean your blood off the floor so I think I'll give you the chance. After all, I'm no master. I might accidently kill you instead of incapacitate you. What do you say?" Shigure growled.

"Fine…I, surrender." Shikamaru dropped the jutsu, the senbon falling to the ground as both he and Shigure dropped their arms.

"Good thing too. I completely missed your last move since I had to use substation to get behind you right then."

"You, you bluffed?"

"Nah, nothing like that. I simply pointed out that I could mess up since I didn't see the whole thing." The rain nin clenched his hands tightly.

"One day I'm gonna get you for this, you little brat."

"Watching my back will be a drag. Too bad. I just wanted a nice quiet ninja life, too. See you later," he said, waving his hand as he walked back to his team and Shigure began collecting his weapons.

"Well, that was surprising. I didn't think Shikamaru had it in him."

"Me either," said Sasuke.

"One thing you'll learn as ninja," Kakashi said from behind them, "is the importance of masking your abilities. I've talked with Asuma about Shikamaru, and he's easily the most intelligent of your class. He just also happens to be the laziest."

"Wow, and I always thought he was just lazy," spoke up Sakura.

"Ah, Sakura; good to see you join us in the land of the living." She smiled.

"Yeah, well, I'm just sorry I won't be in the finals with you and Sasuke."

"Yeah, that is too bad, but you'll make it next time, right sensei?"

"If you work hard enough, yes, I'm sure you'll be able to make chuunin. But remember Sakura, Ino, you _both_ have to work hard to make excellent shinobi."

"Hey, how ever hard Sakura works, I'll work three times as hard! I'm not loosing Sasuke to _you_ forehead." Sakura smacked said forehead.

"Ino, I already told you, Sasuke-kun picked someone else."

"Ha! Like I'd believe that! I'll prove he's mine yet."

"Ex_cuse_ me? Take _my_ boyfriend? You don't have a chance."

"Shut up Naruto; besides who's talking about…your…" Ino's mouth gaped open as she caught on to what Naruto had just said, making Sakura laugh.

"That's right, _my_ boyfriend. If me and Sakura saying it ain't enough, _this_ should do it. Sasuke; kiss; now!" Sasuke rolled his eyes but smiled as he leaned forward gave Naruto a gentle kiss. Pulling away Naruto gave him a look that asked, 'seriously?' Sasuke smirked and pushed off the railing, pulling Naruto in for a real kiss.

_They _do_ look nice together,_ Sakura thought. _I think I'm glad it worked out like this._

_Naruto…and Sasuke? But, how?_ Ino was still trying to wrap her mind around the concept when the board displayed the names for the next two combatants.

_Inuzuka Kiba vs. Hyuuga Neji_

* * *

**Alright then, what did you think? Sasuke and Naruto are finally out in the open. Keep in mind, they kept it secret because they didn't want to hurt Sakura, but Sakura knows now, so that's why Naruto and Sasuke were willing to kiss each other in front of Ino. And, and the first kiss? Sasuke was being mischevious, in case you didn't catch that. How did you like Naruto's handling of that?**

**You know something I just realized? Being out of contact with my hime is actually a good thing for you guys. When she and her family are off where cell phones don't reach, I write faster because I want to give her a nice surprise when she gets back home. Make sure you thank her for inspiring me!**

**Love you, btw sweety.**

**Ah, and who's looking forward to this next fight, eh? Should be spectacular! I'm hoping I can write it that way, at least. **

**Oh, and what do ya'll think about how I've written in Shigure and his team so far? Too bad they all made it through the second exam to loose in the prelims anyway. tsk tsk.**

**Well, that's it. Please leave a review with your thoughts. Take care!**

**ps- review reply for Eagle:**

**I actually used to have an update sceduale when I started this story, but then it got too hectic to keep it consistent and I had to just write and update whenever I got the time. If i can, I like to update every other week, but alot of the time, that's just not practical. Please forgive me!**

**Thanks for the compliment on my writing though. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as you did the last one!**

**~CaptainFlye  
**


	22. The Path to Truth is Revealed

**Thats it, the prelims get wrapped up in this chapter. I tried to skim over the fights that are the same here as in canon, but I'd like to think I did a good job with the other ones.**

**Anway, we're starting to get things moving here. As always there will be some inner-character conflict, and then setting up the matches for the final exam. Kind of an odd set up will occur, but hey, at least I've got the invasion to keep me from needing to go beyond the first round of matches, right? hahah; if i had to do that it's be a drag.**

**Still I hope you enjoy the chapter. Just wait for the conversation at the end!**

**oh, and please remember to review, hmm?  
**

**notice-ff style, disclaimer no jutsu!**

* * *

_Hinata…likes…me? But, when did that happen? I never saw anything that would have indicated she liked me. Is that what Naruto's shout was about? But if she liked me, why didn't she just say it? I mean, she _is_ a great girl and all, and pretty, but so is Naruto. Agh! This is so confusing!_

Kiba had been mentally battling with himself ever since Naruto had approached him after the match, trying to figure out some incident that might have given him a clue that Hinata liked him. He felt like there was something, but he never could figure it out, like a curve in the road where you know it'll straighten out, but you can't see the straight path until you're there.

"I know figuring out your feelings concerning Hinata are important, but you really should get down there for your match."

"Huh?" Shino gestured with his shoulder at the board, showing his name.

"Oh; thanks Shino. Come on Akamaru." He jumped up on the railing, pausing before jumping down. "Hey Shino…did you know at all?"

"I trusted in Hinata to tell you herself."

"Well you could've clued a guy in a little faster!" He shrugged.

"It isn't my duty to cure you of your obliviousness."

"Oh yeah! Well I-"

"Kiba! Get your butt down there. You'll have time enough to talk about this later; the sooner you get your fight over with the sooner you can go visit her." The dog boy cringed.

"Alright, sensei. Geeze." He jumped down, taking stock of his opponent. "A Hyuuga, huh? This should be interesting." The boy in front of him gave an annoyed sound.

"I doubt it. I am not like that weakling Hinata on your team." A previously unknown rage began to swell within the boy as this stranger down talked his teammate.

"SAY WHAT! I'LL KICK YOUR BUTT!"

"I doubt it," Neji replied, almost lazily as he shrugged with his spread out arms. "I skill, Hinata-sama and I are worlds apart. I am a genius from the Hyuuga clan, even though born into the branch family, and Hinata was born with no skill. She has no talent for fighting. Destiny decreed our paths long ago. I am a winner…and she is a looser. I suggest you give up now, or you'll be joining her in the emergency room."

"Where the heck do you get off talking about Hinata like that! She's a great person, _and_ a great ninja, and I'm gonna beat you to prove it! Start the match proctor!" Hayate sighed. _So many charged and emotional matches this year. There's gonna be a lot of bad blood between these people,_ he thought as he declared the beginning of the match.

"I'm going all out! Nobody insults Hinata like that and gets away with it," Kiba yelled, tossing a pill to his dog. "Get ready for the man/beast clone!" Neji's eye's narrowed as he activated his byakugan. He should have known better than to try and reason with the idiot. He was on the same team as his weakling cousin, and he had the idiocy to have a crush on the weakest member of his class. Naruto had been hard pressed to win, he'd noticed, so that spoke on her talent. This boy seemed attracted to weakness. It was most likely a testament to his own level of skill.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," he declared. "I hope you like hospital food."

"Up yours, Neji," Naruto called out, clutching the rail tightly. She'd been around Hinata long enough to know the story of the Hyuuga clan, and what had happened to Neji's father. "Kiba, beat him into tomorrow for Hinata!"

"Roger that, Naruto-chan," he said, not taking his eyes off the Hyuuga in front of him as he charged his chakra for the tunneling fang.

_His eyes are so intense, not at all like Hinata. She's so much kinder and sweeter than this guy it's hard to believe they're from the same family, and he has the guts to disrespect her?_

"Tunneling fang!" He and Akamaru, now looking like him, launched themselves at the Hyuuga with their most powerful attack. _If he's as fast as Hinata, he _might_ dodge, and the smoke that'll come up from the attack won't slow him down like it would most shinobi. I'll just have to keep on the attack, keep the pressure on, and keep moving fast enough that he can't hit him with the gentle fist. The rotation should be enough to keep him from being able to hit me._

Much to his surprise, Neji actually didn't manage to dodge the first strike. Not completely, at least. Akamaru managed to score a hit on his left arm, but it was only a glancing hit.

"Hah! And you call yourself better than Hinata? She wouldn't have gotten hit at all with that! Again!" The Inuzuka team launched themselves at their opponent once again, honing in on his scent. A snarl from Akamaru keyed him in that they missed. _How does that work? It should have been easier to hit him again, now that he's injured._ "Again!" This time it was not a snarl that let him know they had missed again, but rather Akamaru's whimper and de-transformation, landing heavily outside the smoke. "What the heck? Akamaru!" He rushed over to his side only to jump back as he sensed the incoming attack.

"Hn. I admit I expected less of you just then. Your reflexes are better than I thought." Kiba glared at the Hyuuga.

"What did you do to Akamaru!"

"Didn't you notice? His attack was slower the second time, and even more so the third. Each time he passed, I hit a chakra point." Kiba's face went white.

"What?"

"This is another mark in the difference between the skill between Hinata and myself. She can only use the most basic form of the gentle fist, that is, causing damage to the body. My byakugan is so much more advanced that I can see the chakra points of my opponents and attack them directly." Kiba spat.

"It doesn't matter. We still managed to hit you." Neji raised an eyebrow.

"Really? And the fact that I took the hit in order to take down your dog means nothing?" Kiba laughed, shocking everyone.

"It proves a point, actually. You might be better than Hinata in the gentle fist, I'll give you that, but the speed of Akamaru's spin didn't change. I _did_ notice he was slower, and I over looked it, but the thing that would have made it hard to hit him is speed of the spin." He smirked. "If you managed to hit him each time so well, without needing to take a hit the second and third times, the only explanation is that we hit you fair and square the first time. You might think you took a hit to hurt us, but the fact is, you're just slower than Hinata!"

"Pheh; stop trying to compare me to that pathetic excuse of a Hyuuga," he replied, even as his face turned red in anger. His pride refused to acknowledge Kiba's accusation, but every other experience shinobi in the room realized the truth of his words.

_Skill in one art doesn't do any good if you still have to get hit in the process,_ Kakashi thought. _In a one on one fight, I wager Neji would still win, but if they were both to go up against a faster opponent, like Gai, I may put my money on that Hinata girl._ He looked over at his 'eternal rival.' _I would have thought a man like Gai would have made him faster than this, but the difference in their speeds in noticeable, and she's a whole year behind this boy._

"I tire of this game. Let's finish this. I'll _make_ you understand the difference between us. Like Hinata, destiny has declared your defeat today." Kiba spat.

"We'll see about that, chump. Let's go!" As Kiba moved in for the attack, Sasuke noted the difference between the visual prowess of the byakugan vs his sharingan. While it was true that Naruto's tunneling maneuver would have a higher chance to work on him since he couldn't see attacks coming from any direction, his sharingan _did_ help him keep up with a faster opponent. Neji didn't have the same luxury, and Kiba took full advantage of it.

He moved more like a wolf than a dog, jumping in and then back, not caring what direction he attacked from. He attacked from the back several times, but it was obvious he wasn't actively trying to attack from behind. Neji could see all around him, but his reaction speed was the same regardless. The important thing was to use his superior speed, which was even faster than Hinata's, to attack and back off before he could be hit. Granted, most of his own hits were light, and it took a lot of energy to attack like this, but Neji's face was worth it as he tried to keep up, and he was wasting energy as he tried to score another hit to Kiba.

_Still, if he even hits me one, it'll be just like it was with Akamaru, and he won't give me a chance to get the poor guy another pill. Before it even has a chance to take affect he'll be on him and put him out of commission again. I just wish I'd figured out sooner that we needed speed, and not brute force to beat this punk. If I can just keep this up a little longer…_

Unfortunately, Neji _did_ train under Gai, who may have been the fastest shinobi in all of the hidden leaf village. He sparred with Rock Lee often, and his stamina was nothing to be laughed at. Even more so, Kiba had allowed himself to begin attacking in a pattern. Neji was not a genius for nothing. He noted the pattern quickly. _Fool_, he thought, as he waited patiently for the opening he sought. _Didn't I tell you? You were destined…to loose!_ With that thought, he struck out, hitting Kiba square in the chest. The boy's eyes widened in shock as he flew back several feet only to be immediately set upon before he could adjust to the pain.

"You are within my divination. Gentle fist technique, 64 palms!" Strike after strike Neji hit Kiba's chakra points flawlessly, causing the boy to gasp with each hit. It was over in a matter of seconds, and Kiba, standing up for a moment by sheer force of will, felt his knees give in and fell.

"Darn it…I was so close."

"Don't flatter yourself. You never stood a chance of winning."

"Oh yeah? Then how come you're out of breath, and I'm not?" Neji growled at him. "Heh; now you're even starting to sound like a dog. Admit it, I did good, punk." Neji raised his hand, charging to attack the fallen boy when Gai appeared, frown on his face as he clutched his student's hand.

"The proctor already declared you the winner, Neji-san. To attack a defeated opponent is not youthful." Neji whipped his hand away from his sensei and began walking back to the balcony. Gai sighed in frustration.

"You are right in each point, and coming from another opponent, my unyouthful student might have learned something, but you are too close the Hyuuga Hinata for him to see."

"Hah; 360 degree vision and he's still blind, huh?" Kiba coughed as the medics came over to lift him onto a stretcher. "Not that's ironic. I just wish I could have beaten him…for Hinata." Gai smiled at him, flashing him a thumbs up.

"A most youthful attitude! You must hone your skills for your next battle with Neji. Embrace the power of youth, and you shall be victorious. Yosh!" The Inuzuka sweat-dropped.

"Yeah…sure. Hey, don't forget Akamaru, too!" Amaru walked over, already holding the dog users puppy.

"Don't worry, we know how important he must be to you," he said before turning to the green-clad jounin. "However, I think it would be better if you vacated the arena and went back to the balcony for the next match."

"Ah yes, of course." He gave Kiba one last look. "Good luck on your swift recovery Inuzuka." The boy shook his head as the man shushined back to his team.

"What a weird guy. But hey, you're fine, right boy?" Akamaru barked weakly, but in more of an apologetic manner than a pained one. "Ah don't worry about it. I should have noticed sooner." He leaned his head back, scanning the balcony and managed to raise his arm before they lifted him and took him out.

"Hey, Naruto; kick his butt for us in the finals; for me, and for Hinata!" Naruto pumped her fist in the air.

"You betcha! Neji's going down; I sweat it!"

_Good_, he thought. _Now I can accept my defeat in peace. Naruto doesn't go back on her word. That idiot doesn't stand a chance._ Some time later he had recovered enough to stand on his own, thanks to a weaker version of the energy pill giving his system enough of a rush of chakra to reopen his chakra pathways and he was released. He debated a moment on what to do.

"Hey, can you tell me where my teammate is? Hyuuga Hinata."

"Of course, but she's resting at the moment, so you'll have to wait outside." He nodded, carrying Akamaru until he was able to sit down outside Hinata's room, wait for her to wake up.

"I'm sorry I didn't notice you sooner," he said quietly to himself. "I'm not sure how this is gonna work. I still like Naruto so much but…" he looked towards the Hyuuga girl's door. "Man, this is gonna be confusing." Akamaru yipped comfortingly and they continued to wait in silence.

.

.

.

Neji sneered the medics took Kiba to be treated. That looser, kick _his_ butt? He wasn't sure if he should be annoyed or amused.

"You realize that you'll suffer the same fate as him, don't you," he said. "You should know better than him the difference between mine and Hinata's skills." Naruto flipped her hair.

"Yeah, so I know Kiba's right. You may want to believe you're superior in every way, but Hinata-chan's faster than you, and as her friend I'm gonna prove to you that this destiny crap you always spout is just that: crap." The Hyuuga shook his head.

"Fool."

"Hey, if being a fool means I don't claim some grand destiny determines each and every aspect of my life, and I'm happier for it, I prefer to live life as a fool." Neji sniffed, turning his attention back to the matches. The girl wasn't worth his time. Naruto also turned her attention back to the arena, noticing that it was now Shino's turn. Privately she hoped he _would_ win, just because Kiba and Hinata had lost. They had both worked so hard they deserved to have at least _one_ of them make it to the finals. Besides, after her and Sasuke made chuunin Sakura would need new teammates when the exams rolled around again, and she knew they would be great teammates.

Proving that, though creepy, he was actually very smart, much like Kiba had said back in the academy before they got their teams, Shino _did_ win. He had allowed Zaku to keep shooting his air scythes at hit while he simply dodged and _seemed_ to be attacking with his bugs. What he did he did subtly enough that many of the observers couldn't even tell until the small groups of bugs he'd been sending behind Zaku began to merge and make themselves known. It was over, and though she cringed at the pain that must have come when he tried to use his arms the last time, she was happy he won. Before going back up to the stands Shino spared a look for Neji. The older boy looked away, but the message had been clearly received. _Naruto isn't the only one looking to beat you in the finals_.

After him, the last of the rain ninja took his turn against Tenten, Neji's female teammate. Naruto noticed that she had remained quite as Neji down talked Hinata, though she looked guilty doing so, while the other boy, Lee, had vehemently decried Neji's 'unyouthfulness.' She shivered at the thought of being on his team. Tenten paused as she passed Naruto.

"He really isn't that bad, once you get to know him," she said. "He's just a bit…put off." Naruto snorted.

"Is that what you call it? Because this is almost the best he's treated Hinata in the years that I've known her. He's a jerk, and nothing you say will change that."

"I know he can be harsh, but-"

"Save it. You want to know how 'harsh' he can be, ask me later. You have a match to fight," she said, ending the conversation by looking away.

"Wasn't that a little harsh on your own part," Sakura asked softly.

"If you'd seen how he treated Hinata, for something she can't even control…I don't know why she doesn't hate him. She's even more forgiving than I am, and people tell me _I'm_ stupid with how easily I forgive people." Sasuke shrugged.

"We'll see. He sure isn't making himself any friends for the final exam."

"No; but let's see how his teammate does." They nodded and watched as the match unfolded.

"Well, I guess I can assume from the start that your main attack has something to do with umbrellas and senbon, huh? I like a good weapon user." Midare, the last of the Ame gennin smiled almost mockingly.

"A _good_ weapon user? Please. Those guys only use that sort of fighting. Me? I just use it to complement my own skills. You'll find I'm better at handling myself. Now that I'll need to worry." Tenten shrugged.

"Just trying to make friendly conversation," she said, palming a scroll. "Ready to start when you are." Hayate looked back and forth. Amazingly, it seemed they were already done talking.

"Begin." Midare immediately threw up his umbrellas, but he also grabbed a kunai and a handful of shuriken, the latter of which he threw at the now air-born kunouchi. She had opened her scroll and was spinning it around herself. What seemed like a hundred weapons shot out from all angles, easily stopping the kunai. Midare was forced to jump back and pull out a second kunai to black with. It was lucky he didn't rely on the umbrella attack like his teammates, or he would have been finished already. He had noted that his teammates had all been defeated by opponents much younger than themselves, and he was determined to not loose. He wasn't going to underestimate _his_ opponent.

"Not bad, but even scrolls run out eventually, and then you'll have nothing to protect you!"

"Who said anything about trying to protect myself? That's just a bonus of my attack," Tenten called out as she landed. "You're ability to attack, how ever, has been evenly cut in half." Midare stared at her in confusion before glancing up at the umbrellas, wondering what sort of minor damage she had inflicted that she thought would stop his attack. His eyes widened as he say kunai with explosive tags sticking to each of his umbrella, just before they went off.

"Crap!" He covered his eyes, but it was too late. He'd been blinded by the flash. He jumped back, trying to keep in mind the size of the arena so he could avoid her attacks until his vision cleared. A moment later he made out a shape standing still several feet in from of him.

"I think I'd surrender know, if I was you."

"What?" His vision cleared enough to see Tenten was about ten feet from him, a scroll stretched open in front of her, the seal side facing him.

"In my last attack my weapons shot everywhere because I spun. It's made to be hard to dodge, and also misdirect, as you can tell now since I destroyed your umbrellas without you realizing till it was too late. If I had wanted, I could have shot them all straight at you. I have about a hundred kunai stored in this stretch of scroll, and when I release the seal, they'll shoot out at you in too wide an area for you to jump out of the way, or for you to block them all. You will, at the least, be injured, and you'll have no chance to keep up. I'm not only talented in shooting kunai from a distance. I love all weapons, and I have several stored on me for close combat as well. You won't stand a chance. Just be glad I'm giving you the chance to surrender, unlike that girl from the sand village." Midare's eyes narrowed as he considered his options. He did _not_ want to loose, and he'd already taken the exam twice. He'd made it to the finals last time, but hadn't performed well there. This could be his chance to finally advance…but this girl wasn't bluffing, and he wasn't fast enough. He looked over towards Shigure. His pride had been severely hurt by the other leaf brat, and Baiu was, as this girl noted, injured pretty good by the suna girl. Neither would take well to him loosing, but perhaps it was better to loose today, and not have to heal before starting training tomorrow. He would have to work on his speed if he was going to keep up in the future. He hung his head.

"Fine. I forfeit." Tenten rolled her scroll up.

"Good idea. Nice match, by the way. If I hadn't already seen your teammates fight, I doubt I would have gone for your umbrellas so fast, and senbon are a lot harder to block than shuriken." He grunted.

"Maybe. Good luck in the finals," he said, heading back to the balcony Tenten retrieved her tools as the next match, Kankuro vs Misumi, Kabuto's other teammate, was announced and the two headed down. Naruto had to look away as Kankuro did a switch with his puppet and, much like Temari had done, decimated his opponent, only in his case he broke most of the bones in Misumi's body with his puppet.

They had seemed so much nicer, back in the forest. Was she seeing the real them now? Where they really just as bad as Gaara? She didn't think she wanted to even consider that they could be right anymore. She missed the quick apologetic look Kankuro tried to flash her as he set his puppet on his back.

The next fight proved to be even harder to watch as Rock Lee fought against Gaara. Naruto was shocked by the boys speed and how he even managed a hit on Gaara. He was _truly_ fast. If Kiba had had _that_ speed, he would have won for sure, _but_, she considered_, this guys moves require so much contact that even Neji would still be able to take advantage and hit his chakra system. There's that slight pause whenever he lands a hit, and Neji would pick up on that in an instant. To beat Neji, it'll take more than brute force, but it's looking like that's exactly what it takes to beat Gaara. Well, that and speed._ She was silently cheering for the odd green clad boy, the only one on Neji's team that seemed to have an issue with his behavior, but the fight took a turn for the worst.

"Stop it!" Gaara paused, Lee's arm and leg covered in sand. "You won, alright? Just stop it!" Gaara growled.

"I'm getting tired of you getting in my way, and keeping me from what I want." He clenched his fist, causing the boy to scream in pain, even the sand fell around him. "Let this be a lesson to you," he said, walking away as Gai jumped down support his student. Kakashi had gone done to comfort the other jounin as they realized that Lee, though standing in a fighting stance, was unconscious. Naruto clenched the rail. _None of them…I can't trust any of them._ _None of them know pity._ Kakashi's face was grim when he returned, but he said it wasn't his place to talk, though he suggested that his team go visit the boy in the hospital. He'd be there for a while, and "I think he'll enjoy some company," he said.

The final match ended up being Dosu vs Choji. Naruto, though distracted, noted that that meant Kin would have no one to fight. Would someone have to fight again, or would she just be unlucky and not able to go the finals because she was the odd one out?

Dosu soon managed to defeat Choji as the boy got stuck in a wall and he hit him with his sound technique before he could get out. Since he was simply dazed, like Sakura and Ino had been, he was carried up to the balcony again to rest and Hayate stepped forward. What no one else knew was Dosu's inner battle. His team was safe, bit he was no longer going to be loyal to Orochimaru. If it wasn't for Naruto, the path would be clear; he would kill Sasuke, since he was the one Orochimaru-sama wanted. However, Kin, he teammate, was now friends with the boy's girlfriend. Any act on his part to kill the boy would only result in her being hurt. He was annoyed that Kin had decided to try out a friendship with the other girl. It had made things more complicated than they needed to be, but he had time to consider that later. Right now, the proctor was speaking to them.

"Alright, now that we've got our finalists, would all the *couch* winners of their matches please step here in a line? Tsuchi Kin, you too." Naruto sighed in relief as Sakura patted her and Sasuke on the back.

"Good luck you guys. I know you'll do great."

"Hey, it's not like we won't see each other. We'll go out for ramen later." Sakura laughed.

"Right. It's always ramen this and ramen that with you, isn't it." Naruto grinned, her reply making Sasuke stumble.

"Nah, sometimes 'Sasuke _get_ me ramen." The girls shared a laugh at his expense as he grumbled, even though he still let Naruto take his hand as they walked down.

"Well, that completes the prelims. Congratulations everyone on passing and moving on the third and final exam. Hokage-sama will fill you in." He gestured toward the old man, sitting in his chair with a smile on his face.

"Again, congratulations to you all. As we stated before the final exam will take place in front of a huge audience. Now that we know who will fighting we'll inform the villages and make preparations. You will have a one month break to prepare yourselves for your matches."

"Ah, come one jii-san! Can't we start sooner than that?" The Hokage chuckled.

"No, we can't, Naruto. Besides, even the month break is a part of the exam."

"How is that," asked Neji.

"Up to this point, your skills have largely been tested on your quicker reactions to unexpected circumstance. That is an important part of being a shinobi; the ability to improvise and still succeed is one of the great assets you will have. However, as you advance in rank you will receive missions of higher risk, and they will also have more information. You will need to be able to plan ahead and prepare for these encounters. The third exam will test you on this, as well as giving your bodies a rest." He raised his arms.

"Well, that's all I have to tell you. One more thing and you'll be dismissed. Anko?" The woman nodded, stepping forward with a small box.

"Alright brats, you'll all be taking a number from this box, so line up and get ready." Stopping for a moment in front of Naruto she looked pointedly at how she was holding Sasuke's hand in public. Naruto grinned, giving her a wink and she smiled before moving on.

Soon everyone had a number and the hokage had them reveal what they had drawn. Each gennin's name was written on a board in accordance with their number.

Naruto vs Neji

Gaara vs Sasuke

Temari vs Shikamaru

Shino vs Kin

Kankuro vs Tenten

Dosu-free pass

"Alright, as you may have surmised, the final exam will be executed in a tournament style set of fights. Each of you will get the chance to fight and advance to the next round, or you will stop where you are. Good luck to each of you. Your month begins now." He began to stand up by Shikamaru raised his hand, asking a question about the tournament style to determine how many people actually stood a chance at becoming chuunin. Everyone was relieved to hear that you didn't have to win to advance, but it still bothered them that there remained the prospect of them all failing. With no further questions the Hokage stood up once more and walked out of the room as the gennin began to disperse with their teams to head out of the forest. Naruto stared at the board. _The very first match…_ She grinned. _Don't worry Hinata, Kiba. I'll beat his arse for what he said._

"This is going to be interesting," Sasuke said beside her. "I've got your stalker in my match." Naruto perked up.

"That's right; you do, don't you." She grinned. "You better show him up, 'cause I want to fight you in the next round."

"Of course." He released her hand. "Kakashi sensei said for me to meet him just outside. He said you should ask Ebisu to train you. Do you know him?" Naruto made a face.

"That closet perv teaches Konohamaru-san. I guess Kakashi sensei's training you, then?" Sasuke nodded.

"Yeah. My sharingan advanced another tomoe when we fought Orochimaru, and he's the only one that can teach me how to use it. That and he said that he might be able to teach me an original technique of his if I had to fight Gaara." He sighed. "He's so lazy, but sometimes it seems like he knows what's coming." Naruto shrugged.

"Well, I disagree with Neji on fate controlling you, but sometimes I sweat there _is_ someone out there that just likes to mess with us." She gave him a quick kiss.

"Be careful, okay? I won't want you hurt like he hurt that Lee kids." Sasuke nodded.  
"Sure. You be safe, too. I think Kakashi sensei wants us to train away from the village, so I don't think I'll be able to see you until the exam. Don't be too proud to ask for help dealing with those sand people." Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Don't be too proud? Well if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black."

"Meh, who cares." He gave her one last hug, relishing in the last contact he knew he'd have for a while. "I love you," he whispered, walking away, leaving a stunned Naruto standing there in shock. By the time it registered what he'd said it was too late, and he was gone.

"You teme…you didn't even me time to respond," she said, shaking her head. "Next I see you, oh I'm gonna make you hurt, but right now, I need to talk to jii-san."

.

.

.

An hour or so later, Naruto and he grandfather were in his office, sound seals on all the doors. The wizened man sat at his desk, waiting for Naruto to begin, but in her silence he decided to help her along.

"When Anko told me about what happened in the forest, that you had something to ask me…and she also told me about what the sand gennin have been claiming." Naruto winced. "I'm disappointed that you didn't tell me about this, Naruto."

"…sorry, jii-san, but I wanted to take care of it on my own." The man sighed.

"I know you like to do things on your own, but this is important. I don't want my granddaughter being confused, and I sure don't want her to be a target of some secret plan without knowing everything that it's possible to know." He paused. "I'm guessing that this is what you wanted to talk with me about, as well."

"Yeah, yeah it is. Its just, they seemed so _convinced_ that we're related, that they saw me as a child using some jutsu of Gaara's that lets him view things at a distance. They said they saw their mom here in Konoha, and that she gave birth to me." Sarutobi shook his head.

"It is true that their mother, pregnant with child, disappeared around the time you were born. However, your father would have told me if he was hiding her or anything like that."

"About that…Kankuro did say that…I looked a lot like…like the yondaime, and his wife." Hiruzen nodded.

"Yes, you do." Naruto looked at him expectantly.

"Please…I know you think I'm not ready to know who my parents are, but jii-san, I need to know!" Sarutobi closed his eyes a moment to fight back tears at his granddaughter's plight.

"Alright…I guess you do. Come over here," he motioned with his hand as he reached into a secret compartment of his desk and pulled out a scroll. "You were only with your parents for a day, but we did manage to take of few pictures of you when your parents were still alive." Naruto nodded, waiting in anticipation as the hokage pricked Naruto's finger and used the blood to unseal the scroll. "Naruto…these are your parents," he said, handing her the photos. The very first one showed a young man and woman standing together, holding a bundle in their arms, smiling happily. The woman was beautiful, with long flowing red hair, and the main wore a well known cloak, and had short, spiky yellow hair.

"Yondaime…he, he _is_ my father…." Sarutobi nodded.

"Yes, the forth hokage. He was my successor, and my friend. I was there the day you were born, though not for your birth as that occurred in the middle of the night. During the last few days Minato stayed home as much as he could to take care of your mother. Her name was Uzumaki Kushina, by the way, and she was the love of his life, and a very powerful kunouchi. They were so happy to have you in their lives, and they already loved you with all their hearts.

"As you know, they were very talented shinobi, and so they _both_ had many enemies. That, along with you being the jinchuuriki to the kyuubi, made me decide that it was better if no one knew your parentage. In time you'll be as strong as they were, I'm sure, and then you won't have to worry about people trying to take revenge on you. You may even manage to figure out some of their jutsu," he said. "The kunai from your mothers pouch is actually one that Minato gave her, in case she was ever in trouble and he wasn't around. It was one of several with the seals for his flying thunder god technique, which allowed for instant transportation from one spot to another, as long as the seal was there. If there would ever be a hint to recreating that jutsu, it would with that kunai, and possibly with Minato's own sensei."

Naruto was silent for several minutes as she looked through the photos. There were several people she didn't know in there, smiling with her parents as they held her…or waving in the case of the anbu. It was hard to know how to feel as she even saw a picture of jii-san holding her so delicately, as if she would break. Then her eyes widened.

"Kakashi-sensei?" The hokage nodded.

"Yes. He was still young at the time, and that girl there, his girlfriend, was still alive. She was the one who delivered you, and they were both trained by your father."

"So, so was Kakashi sensei there when I was born."

"Yes. In fact, he's the only person still alive who witnessed your birth." Naruto nodded. _Jii-san did say that the yondaime…that _tou-san_ was at home a lot the last few days. That, that could have been when…if it's true…but why…_

"Why did Kakashi-sensei never say anything?"

"Because he lost everything that day," he sighed. "Like I said, that girl was alive when that picture was taken, but she died in the kyuubi attack, along with your father and mother. He had lost his father not too long before that, and they were his life lines, along with Rin. Loosing all three of them in one night was hard on him. I almost took him off of active duty, but with the shortage of shinobi we had after the attack, I had to keep him active. I know he has a habit of being late, but if you ever manage to get up early enough, you'll find him at the memorial stone when your team took your test. He never did fully recover from that night, even if he does act like he's fine. I had hoped that training you would help him come out of his shell again, and I think it has helped some. He is training his sensei's child, and paying back a debt, in his mind. He is earning his right to have survived that night."

"I…I didn't know sensei had so much…he was dealing with."

"Why do you think he wears his mask?"

"But he was wearing it here, too, wasn't he?"

"Yes, but remember, he'd already lost his father."

"Oh, right."

"Don't make this your problem, Naruto-chan. Kakashi is working himself out of it, and he's succeeding, finally. Don't bring it up if you can avoid it."

Naruto continued to stare at the picture, the words of the hokage echoing in her ears, that he was the only person still alive who witnessed her birth. _I, I'd like to do what you said, jii-san, but there's still a chance, and I have to know for sure. Why did he have to leave with Sasuke-kun already?_

"Okay," she said, getting up and handing him back the photos. "Thank-you, jii-san. That makes me feel…a lot better," she said with a smile, and she was happy. Know she knew exactly who to ask, even if it would take a month, and Kakashi sensei wasn't going to lie to her.

"Good. Now you better meet up with your trainer. Beating Hyuuga Neji won't be easy. They call him a genius for a reason, you know." The girl grinned.

"Yeah, but then again, I'm known for pulling off the unexpected."

"Very true, very true."

* * *

**Okay, so that's a wrap for chuunin exam 2, and now has a promise to keep, and an answer to find. As you can see, thanks to Kakashi being prompt (for oncem heheheh) Naruto will _not_ get the full answer just yet, but don't expect her to be terribly shy next time she gets the chance to ask him. Oh, that will be SO much fun to write...and NO ONE is going to see it coming, either...mwahahahah!**

**So, your opinions: did i do good on the fights? And did you Tenten actually WINNING for once? I'm tired of the poor girl always getting shafted, and in the one filler where she actually makes an important differnce, it's one of the top 10 most rediculous fillers of all time (the one where the go to the weapon inventors). Tenten in my story will have a little more luck.**

**On that note, as I was deciding who got which number in the draw for the matches (i was originally going to show you all what each person drew before putting it on the board) Tenten, through now planning of my own, just happenstance, drew the number '10'. How's THAT for irony. In fact...i think I might take page out of another's authors book on here and write a mini-omake for it to include at the end of next chapter...**

**Okay, I've rambled long enough. This is my last day of tests and then I start heading home tomorrow. The next update will be very uncertain since I'll no longer have access to a computer. Mine broke down a while ago and I've been using my roommates spare computer to get things like this and school work done, and since my parents don't like their computer used for things like FF, I'm going to respect their wishes on that. If I'm lucky my little brother will be nice enough to give me his password for his new laptop and I can work on the story and post it using his computer. Should be able to do that, since he likes the story, too, but he's working at Philmont till the end of August, so it will still be awhile. Just apologizing now if i can't get in an update soon. At least I got this one out in less than a week, right? :D**

**Well, wish me safe travels. Have a great weekend everyone!**

**~CaptainFlye**

**-ps**

**Love you Himeflye!  
**


	23. A new Teacher

**First off, sorry that this chapter is a little shorter. I got to a certain point in the writing of it and it just felt right to stop where i did. Sometimes that's just how life works, right?**

**Anyway, Naruto meets someone very important in this chapter, she starts training, Gaara gets peeved, and the other sand sibs start some plotting. Don't forget to tell me what you think of the chapter with a**** review, hmm?**

**notice-ff style, disclaimer no jutsu!**

* * *

Naruto walked absent mindedly through the village as she handled the kunai that the Hokage said was her fathers, coming to grips with everything that had been said. She trusted her jii-san, and believed he was probably right, and Kankuro, even, had noticed how much she looked like the previous hokage and his wife. Naruto had to agree with that one, once she had seen the picture of the two of them together, holding her as a baby. Now, however, she was wondering how she might be able to find Kakashi sensei.

The first reason was to ask what happened the night she was born. He was the only person who had witnessed her birth and still alive. Only _he_ could give her the full story. After learning that he was trained by her father, and seeing that he must have had his sharingan before the yondaime died, she realized that he must have had the sharingan even then, and based on what jii-san had said, this kunai had been part of one of her father's greatest jutsu's, and she hoped her sensei had managed to record it, and that she could use it, too.

Of course she knew that Kakashi would be training Sasuke hard for his match against Gaara, but only he would know how to use that jutsu, if anyone did, and part of training was always leaving the student alone for a bit. It only does so much good to spend _all_ your time teaching someone. To truly master a skill, you had to learn the most important parts on your own. Only then were you truly the master of that jutsu. That was part of why new jutsu's held so much prestige; they showed you were a master of something no one else was…yet. The honor only held on for as long as there remained only a small number of people capable of learning that jutsu.

She had Ebisu to train her, of course, but she'd never really liked him anyway. She told him, when he caught her outside the hokage's office, that she needed to rest today and she'd meet him tomorrow. After a nod from the hokage he agreed and said he'd be there to pick her up first thing in the morning. She was hoping to have found Kakashi-sensei by then. Twirling the kunai in her hand she blinked as she heard an odd giggle. Looking around she took stock of her location. She was at the hot springs near the edge of town. She hadn't even realized that she'd been walking that long she'd been thinking so hard. Then she spotted the source of the giggling.

Crouched down by wall, an old, white haired man was looking through what must have been a small hole on the women's side of the baths. At this angle she didn't recognize his headband, but it suggested he was a shinobi…even if he was the most _oddly_ dressed shinobi she's ever seen. He wore _those type of shoes…clogs?_ And dark green pants with a red jacket, and his backpack had a scroll as large as the forbidden scroll Naruto has stolen from the Hokage's tower just months prior. To top it off, he had the spikiest hair she had ever seen. And, she registered, he was _peeping_ at the women in the baths. He was a grade 'A' pervert.

Deciding she didn't like him, she quietly walked up behind him, masking her intent by focusing on a rock near the road. That was how she did most of her diversions in pranks. Shinobi could sense each other's intents, so it was foolish to really try and hide it. No, what you had to do was mask it with another intent. Many chuunin ran right by her hiding places because she projected an '_I'm out in the open'_ intent rather than a '_I'm hiding'_ intent. Jounin were a bit harder to trick in that regard since most of them had learned that trick. Naruto had discovered it on accident while pranking and experimented till she got it right, Anko giving her pointers as she went. It served her well.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't yell out to all those women that there's a freaky old pervert out here," she said coldly as she pressed the steel of her father's kunai against his throat. The old man opened his eye that wasn't busy peeping to raise an eyebrow at her.

"Aren't you a little young to be threatening someone little girl? You don't even look like you know how to handle that…kunai…" Suddenly she had the man's full attention as he actually caught the shape of the kunai she held and the seals on its handle. He whipped around so fast Naruto almost fell over.

"Alright, I'm game to listen to you after all. Tell me what you know about that kunai you have there. If you actually know how to use it, I _might_ be impressed."

"What?" Naruto looked at him, confused by the change in demeanor. She looked back and forth between him and the kunai he was now so interested.

"The kunai," he said, waving a hand as though impatient. "Tell me what you know about it. Jiriaya, the legendary toad sage, doesn't give out many free chances for small brats to impress him." _Never would have thought she'd be working on that jutsu this young. I thought I was keeping good track of her progress, but maybe I've been more lax than I thought I was…_

Meanwhile, Naruto's mind whirled as she tried to remember where she'd heard that title before. She was certain it was something she should remember, but she couldn't get a grasp on it. Even more confusing was his interest in her father's kunai. She decided she'd stall for time as she tried to remember who he was.

"What makes you so interested in _this_ kunai? There's a lot of kunai out there, after."

"Ah, but so very few in that…shape," he said, trying to say mysterious. "Mostly it's the single blade kunai. A fair number of shinobi use two pronged kunai, but three pronged? The number there is almost negligible." Naruto scrutinized him for a moment longer before her eyes widened.

"Wait! You're one of the three sannin! I remember now; Anko-chan told me about you guys." She looked at him oddly. "Why do you want to know about my kunai?" He waved a hand.

"If you don't know anything about it then there's no point in asking. No, if you don't mind, I have some research to get back to…"

"Do _you_ know how to use the yondaime's jutsu?" The man paused, slowly turning back to the girl.

"What jutsu?" Naruto motioned to the kunai.

"My…the yondaime, he had a jutsu he needed this type of kunai to use. I need someone who can teach me that jutsu. Do-you-know-how-to-use-it?" The edge of Jiriaya's lip quirked upward as he was reminded of his student's wife before his eyes narrowed.

"What is that," he asked, pointing. Naruto looked over her shoulder before slapping her forehead.

"Gaara," she muttered.

"Gaara? What's a Gaara?"

"He's a 'who,' and one of Suna's genin in the chunnin exams. He thinks I'm his long lost sister, so he's taken to, literally, keeping an eye on me." She frowned at the floating sand eye. "He can't seem to take a hint that I _don't_ appreciate his presence." Jiriaya's eyes had widened during the explanation as he scratched his chin, analyzing the odd jutsu.

"Alright then, I think we can manage something here." He reached to hold Naruto's shoulder, lifting up a hand. "Secret research jutsu!"

Somewhere else in the village, Gaara was preparing to fetch his sister when she disappeared before his sight. He frowned. This was not good. What had that old man done? Where was he taking Naruto? Making his eye look around he spied a burst of smoke in the pattern of a shushin technique, right where they had been standing. So, it was simply a form of invisibility. No matter. He'd be more stealthy with the use of his eye until he caught up with them. He canceled the jutsu and activated it again, keeping his goal on Naruto. He frowned. _How are they hiding from me?_

.

.

.

"What did you do?" Jiriaya laughed heartily at Naruto's bewildered expression.

"Oh, I've become quite good at hiding, so I activated my ultimate stealthy jutsu. Whatever method he's using to track you won't work now," he explained, smirking.

"Wow…that's not too bad, pervy sage." He face faulted.

"HEY! Don't you call me that! I'm one of the legendary sannin, the great three, master of many jutsu! I'm Jiriaya the great!"

"Fine, fine," Naruto said, waving a hand uncaringly. "You never answered my question, though; _can_ you teach me how to use my dad's jutsu?" They stared at each other for a moment before Naruto slapped her face. "Crap; I gotta work on not doing that."

"You…know who your parents are, then? I thought you would be older before sensei told you."

"What? How do you know jii-san!" Jiriaya grinned weakly.

"Well, he was the teacher of us three sannin…and it's not just him I knew. I knew your father, too."

"Huh?...how?"

"I…was _his_ teacher…and your godfather." If nothing else that day had fazed Naruto, this was the one that would do it. Not only was her father famous, but he'd been trained by one of the three sannin, and was close enough to him that said sannin had been named her _god_father. Her godfather was a sannin. She stared at him for a moment, then slapped him as hard as she could.

"Where have you been," she demanded, crying. "Why have I never seen you before? Dad _trusted_ you, and the first time I meet you your peeping at a girls bathhouse? What kind of man are you? What kind of _friend_ are you?" The man hung his head, waiting for Naruto to stop.

"Not a very good one, I think. I know I just boasted about being 'Jiriaya the great,' but I've made too many mistakes in my life. My best friend deserted the village, my students are all dead, I've failed in my obligation to the toads, the most important book I've ever written just sits in used book stores collecting dust…and I can't even do more than drop a gift off on my goddaughter's birthday."

"Gift? What gifts? Every gift I've ever gotten had a name on it, and none of them was ever yours."

"I would look around for what I thought you would like before hand, and then give the money to sensei and he'd buy it for you. That set of hair ribbons, for example, was one of my gifts." Naruto absently touched said ribbons as she continued to question him.

"If you had enough time to find me presents, why didn't you have enough time to talk to me, to _act_ like a god-father?"

Jiraiya covered his face. It was one of the few times in life that he allowed others to see him in despair.

"I'm so sorry, Naruto. Nothing I have done is a real reason. I've always preferred being alone, and I did have my spy network for Konoha, but if had enough time to visit the village, I had enough time to talk with you. If I had done that, maybe things wouldn't have been so confusing for you, but I'm not going to fail anymore." He uncovered his face, standing to his full, and impressive, height. "From now on, I'm taking my role as your godfather seriously. I'll watch over you all I can, and from now on you'll be my apprentice. I'll teach you everything I taught your father, and all the wisdom that he bestowed upon me as well. This I promise." Naruto was awed in spite of herself. She wanted to keep being angry at him, but something in how he'd just declared himself was inspiring, and made her want to forgive him. She shook her head and looked off to the side.

"Alright, fine. I forgive you, but," she continued, pointing a finger at him while her other hand rested on her hip, "only if you promise to teach me _everything_ you did my dad." As impressive as his declaration was a moment before, his facefault was its antithesis.

"What! You shouldn't go around forgiving people that easily! Don't you know what will happen to you out there if you keep that up?" Naruto rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Yes, I know; jii-san tells me the same thing all the time, and Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke-kun, and Iruka-sensei and Anko-nee-chan and-"

"Alright alright, I get the point! Oi." He shook his head. "Girl, we're going to have to work on that." She shrugged.

"So I've been told." Her eyes lit up. "So what's first? You gonna teach me dad's flying thunder god? Or maybe his wind blade? Oh! I heard he was great with the-"

"Hey, slow down kid! Those are advanced techniques! You're not ready for them, yet. Heck, for all we know you may not be able to perform some of them for reasons no one can control, just no one besides Minato was able to perform the flying thunder god." Naruto's face began to fall. "But, I _can_ show you _one _of his best techniques. The main requirement for this one is a lot of chakra. Most kids your age wouldn't be able to do it just because of that. It's almost impossible for kids to have build up their chakra reserves this high, but thanks to your little furry friend, _you_ have the ability to perform…the summoning jutsu!" Naruto's eyes lit up again.

"You mean I could summon snakes like Anko-nee-chan?" Jiriaya bit back a look of disgust, thinking of his lost teammate.

"No, not yet. I've got a different summon for you, and someone else has that contract anyway."

"Oh yeah; Anko-chan said there was a contract to sign." The girl looked thoughtful.

"What _will_ you be teaching me to summon?" The toad sage grinned.

"Toads." Naruto stared at him for a moment.

"Eeeeewww!"

.

.

.

That evening saw the toad sage carrying a slumbering Naruto into the hokage's office, much to the surprise of the old man.

"Well, I suppose that would account for why I couldn't find her in my crystal ball earlier. I almost sent out a search party before it was confirmed that…certain parties were also frustrated."

"Ah, you mean that Gaara boy, yes sensei?" He set Naruto down on one of the large cushioned chairs in the room as the hokage looked at him in surprise.

"How do you know-"

"Naruto told me," he said, waving a hand. "This girl trusts people way too easily, you know."

"Yes. I've told her the same many times." Jiriaya grunted a chuckle.

"Yes, so she said, along with just about every other person she knows. I wanted to talk about this Gaara, though."

"Yes, I see. What about him."

"You know he's been spying on her?"

"Yes, with his sand eye. A very unique technique, probably original to him alone."

"Yes, probably, but like you crystal ball, my jutsu can still hide from it."

"So it would so seem. My anbu reported that the boy became rather frustrated earlier as his 'sister' disappeared."

"Good. I don't want him to be around her too much. I can keep her hidden from him, but for her training for the exams, I think I'd like to keep her with me. I can't keep the jutsu going forever, but neither can he. So, I want to keep her in places that are unfamiliar to either of them as much as I can until we can deal with it properly at the final exam when the Kazekage comes." Sarutobi stroked his beard a moment.

"Hmm… Perhaps that would be the best way to handle things, though I don't like the idea of not seeing her for a whole month. Konohamaru won't like it much, either. He hasn't gotten to see her for a week already, and he would be one that Gaara would associate as being near Naruto." His gazed shifted over to the girl as she smiled in her sleep and snuggled deeper into the couch. "I approve your idea. Have you told Naruto yet?"

"No; we were very busy training today." The hokage raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I got her to sign the toad contract. Minato signed it, after all, so I thought she'd like it." His nose scrunched like he smelled something bad. "She was hoping it was the contract for the snakes for some reason." Hiruzen chuckled.

"Well, Anko has been her sister figure for years now."

"Anko? Anko…"

"Mitarashi. She was Orochimaru's apprentice before he… left."

"Ah, so that's why she was into snakes. Funny, though; she thought toads were gross."

"That may be Anko's influence as well." The sage rolled his eyes.

"Naruto will see how much more valuable Toads are soon enough."

"Of course. Now, tell me what you did with my granddaughters training."

"Well, first was the actual signing of the contract, then after her first attempt, I had her do some exercises for chakra control. That much chakra in her system, she'll need a lot of work controlling it, as I'm sure you know."

"Of course. She's actually done remarkably well. You may remember how much trouble the clone jutsu gave Kushina? Well, Naruto can actually do it right about half the time, but she has to concentrate which makes it ineffective for battle. However, she managed to learn the shadow clone technique, as I'm sure you know." Jiriaya scowled.

"Yes, I heard about that incident. The perpetrator was sentenced for life, wasn't he?" The hokage nodded. "Good. You might want to try interrogating him again, though. I think there was more going on than just trying to steal a scroll."

"Really? Why is that?"

"Simple. In the original report, Anko said he referred to Orochimaru, and now Naruto has seen Orochimaru again, during the second exam. He's been invisible for years. There has to be a reason why he's here now. I'd look into more myself, but my personal spy work is going to be minimal while I'm training Naruto, and my network is busy with another project at the moment. Something big, but I'm not sure what it is just yet."

"I see." The hokage furled his brow as he brought his fingers together in thought. "Yes, that is a good point. I hadn't thought to connect Mizuki to Orochimaru's appearance before now, but that is a good point. I think I'll have Inoichi interrogate him personally this time."

"Good idea; he should be able to get all the secrets out of him, especially since we can connect him to a more clear and present threat."

"Exactly. He won't be getting _any_ soft hands this time around." The old sage nodded as he walked back over to the couch, picking up the sleeping girl as gently as he could.

"We'll be around the village, and I'm sure I'll treat her to a few meals, so you won't have to worry about her. As long as the Anbu keep their eyes open, you'll see that she's still safe."

"I'm trusting you with her, Jiriaya. I'm trusting you to treat her like the godfather you should have been all these years." His eyes were wet as he turned back to face his sensei one last time before leaving.

"So is she, and I promised her I would." With that the toad sage left the room, carrying the young blonde in his arms as she snuggled into his chest for warmth, leaving his sensei to wonder at the details of what happened between the two that day.

.

.

.

"Well, she from what Gaara says I don't think she's in trouble," Kankuro was saying to his sister. "I mean, yeah, the guy is probably a perv is he was looking at the girls in the bathhouse, but I think she'll be fine." The oldest of the sand siblings growled.

"Well _I_ don't like it, and I don't want some old perv hanging around our sister," she declared. "Besides," she continued, her voice softening, "I never got to explain why I did what I did at the prelims. I just can't stand remembering the look she gave us." The puppeteer nodded.

"I know, but we'll have time _later_ to figure that out. Right now we need to prepare for the exams…and figure out what to do for the invasion."

"I think I may have something we can do," a new voice said. The teens jumped at the sound, relaxing only when they saw it was their sensei. "You see, your father has appointed me to be the liaison for Orochimaru for the next month. I will be in charge of coordinating attack locations for our two forces." Kankuro's eyes lit up.

"I see…this is the perfect infiltration," he said. "We can't stop the invasion, but we can make it so that our own losses are minimal while at the same times lowering the losses for Konoha, inflicting maximum damage to the sound village." Baki nodded.

"Exactly. Of course, strategy was never my strong point. Temari, I'll need you to help me out with this one. Everything I learn I'll be sharing with the both of you, and we'll do our best to plan things right. Suna _must_ remain out of this battle as much as possible, and I'll do all I can to keep your sister safe." The girl nodded.

"That sounds like a good plan to me. We can't deviate too early, of course, or someone will realize what's happening, and I'm sure the anbu are keeping tabs on each of us, especially now that they now that we know about Naruto's true origins." She shook her head. "I just wish I understood why the people that seem to love her are keeping the truth from her. Mother was _here_," she said, "and the old man _must_ have known. Why don't they tell her the truth?" Kankuro shrugged, not understanding either, and they continued to make plans for what they would do with the information that would soon start trickling their way.

Elsewhere, sitting on a rock and staring at the moon, a certain silver haired ninja sneezed, wondering why he was thinking of Naruto's parentage at that moment.

_Not yet,_ he thought. _She needs a little more time before she's ready. I'll tell her the whole story soon, including Minato sensei and Kushina. It's just…so hard to wrap a head around. She's not ready yet. Soon, but not yet._ He sighed as he stretched and layed down. Tomorrow was going to be a hard one on his student. They were going to learn his chakra nature the next day to see if he had lightening. If he did, it would be a great aid against Gaara, and Sasuke had already had practice with his families fireball jutsu.

_Soon…_

* * *

**Unfortunately I forgot to write up that little piece where Ten-ten draws the number 10 at the conclusion of the prelims. :( I would do it now but I have too much to do today. After I get this posted it's gonna be work work work!**

**Anyway, hope ya'll enjoyed the chapter. I don't really have anything to say at the end of this one. Just let me know what you think of how i'm doing so far. Take care ya'll!**

**~CaptainFlye**

**-ps**

**Love you Himeflye!  
**


	24. Out and About

**Well, not bad if I do say so myself. I got this one out pretty fast!**

**A little bit of training, a few set ups for later, and alot of people trying to be sneaky. That's what ninja's do, right? I will say now, though, that I'm only partially satisfied with this chapter. A good part of it I had the actions planned, but I just couldn't get a dialogue I liked. . Over all, though, it's fine. And I get to poke some fun at Jiriaya, heheh; poor guy.**

**Well hey, read and enjoy, and PLEASE leave a review. Please?**

**notice-ff style, disclaimer no jutsu!**

* * *

"She's what?"

"Calm down, I told you _both_ already. She's training for the chunnin exams under an old student of mine so she can avoid the Suna genin while she's at it. He has a unique jutsu that renders him invisible to spying techniques. The only weakness is the user, but he'll manage just fine, so don't worry." Haku glared at the wizened hokage while Anko fumed, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

"You let her go with the perv, didn't you? That's the only other male student you had, and I _know_ it's not Orochimaru. How _could_ you? She's not supposed to do toads anyway. _I'm_ teaching her!"

"Anko, there is a very good reason I've agreed to let Jiriaya train her, and I trust he would be a 'ahem' _pervert_ while she is around. She'll be good for him, and he can teach her things that no one else can; things that she in particular needs to know." Anko folded her arms and continued to star down the hokage.

"Oh yeah? What could he possibly teach her that I couldn't, eh?" Sarutobi frowned as he debated with himself for a moment.

"He can teach her her parents techniques. He knew them better than I did, and he knows how they each managed to create their unique jutsus. If anyone deserves to carry on the legacy of their jutsus, it's Naruto, and she may even be the _only_ one who _can_ learn their techniques." Anko stared at him open mouth. Haku merely raised an eyebrow.

"That _perv_ knew Naruto's parents?" Hiruzen nodded. "And they _trusted_ him?" The old man frowned.

"Anko, I hate that you're making me say this, but of all people you should know better than to distrust Jiriaya because of here say." Anko cringed but folded her arms, unconvinced. "I dare say, given how each of my students were progressing, Orochimaru was becoming stagnant. In the end, it was Jiriaya that had the most potential, and I believe that _he_ would win in a fight between the two."

**A/N-I've checked the data books, and since the beginning of the series Jiriaya has had a higher skill rating than Orochimaru, just so you know I'm not making this one up. Jiriaya actually _was_ more powerful, despite Orochimaru being the natural genius. **

"Is that your honest opinion, or are you just saying that to justify yourself?" Despite the blatant attack on his judgment the man remained calm, as if the special Jounin had asked him what the weather would be like that day. He leaned back in his chair and looked out the window.

"I have been many things in my life, Anko, and a fool is one of them. I was a fool not to kill Orochimaru when I had the chance. I have learned from that mistake. My life now is protecting my family and my village. I have thought long and hard over this particular matter since I have hoped that Jiriaya would succeed. I needed to know that he would be able to take on Orochimaru if the need arose." He turned back to the woman in front of his desk. "I have used every facet of my mind to determine, and even with surprise attacks, Orochimaru only wins once in thirty times. Jiriaya has the clear advantage, thank-goodness, and trust me when I say I have allowed myself to lean in my calculations, save those that aided Orochimaru, and even with those he looses." The kunoichi's eye twitched for a few moment before turned to walk out of the office.

"Fine, but when I see him I get to beat him into next week if Naruto says he did anything weird."

"Fair enough. Until then, however, prepare for our next encounter with Orochimaru." Anko nodded, leaving Haku alone with the old man.

"I take it there's a bit of history between her and this Orochimaru?"

"Yes, but I'll leave it to her and Naruto to tell you, if they feel they trust you. Remember, _they_ are the ones that know you and invited you here, not me."

"It was _your_ decision to allow me to stay, however." Hiruzen smiled.

"Yes, because Naruto needs more friends closer to her age, and I sensed you would provide it, but this is something a _friend_ tells you about, not your friends grandfather." He gestured to the door. "I cannot aid you in finding Naruto, since we do not know when Gaara may be watching us, but I can tell you not to expect her where you might usual expect her to be. Good day, Haku."

"Thank-you, Hokage-sama."

_Alright, I suppose that takes care of that, but I need to keep an eye on Naruto, even if Hokage-sama thinks she's safe. He said himself that we are friends, and Zabuza-sama made it my mission to look after her. She gave me a new chance in life, so her happiness is my own. I do not have the power to defeat this Gaara should he go after her, but I can help _her_ to defeat him._

With those thoughts in mind she headed to the woods. Though out of practice she retained much of her original speed. She had realized that, despite Zabuza's belief, she was not the fastest shinobi out there, and speed did not always win a battle, though it could give a clear advantage if you possessed enough skill. As she continued, he thought about where she might be able to find Naruto. It wouldn't make sense for them to be far from the village. The further they traveled, the less training she would get done. So, where would one of the sannin go to train?

Haku's eyes widened as she remembered the conversation in the hokage's office and Anko's accusations of the sannin Jiriaya being a pervert.

_Could it really be…it's just a cover! He's not really a pervert. Who would think to question a perverted old man, and who would think to do training near bath houses? That really is very clever_, she thought, remaining in blissful ignorance. _So, if I want to find Naruto, I should probably go to a location that would provide, ahem, abundant perv-ability._ She shivered at the thought, taking comfort in her new take on the sannin. _Well, there is that one spot by the river were miss Yamanaka told me the women liked to go sometimes to bathe. Maybe that's where they are._ Her new destination Haku altered her course to head to the river. She paused again well before reaching her goal as she spied to heavily bandaged sound ninja training in a clearing.

_Wait a moment…that's Kin's teammate. She said she wasn't sure what he'd do, yet. He may still try to kill Sasuke, or he may fall in line with Orochimaru again. Either way, since he's the leader of their little team, if I can get him to talk to _me_, I might be able to figure out if Naruto's still in danger._

"Hello; are you training for the chuunin exams?" Dosu paused, retracting his outstretched arm. He'd _thought_ he felt someone nearby. He quickly remembered seeing the girl at the chuunin exams just before the prelims. She was Naruto's friend._ And Naruto is Sasuke's girlfriend. Whatever Orochimaru wants, it revolves around Sasuke. If I can get close to this girl, I can get close to Naruto, and then to Sasuke._

"Yes, though I thought you watched the exams." Haku smiled sweetly.

"Well, yes, I did. Only part of them, though. I've been told I have a certain amount of skill but I really prefer not to fight myself. I only came to watch Naruto-chan."

"Hm." Awkward silence reigned in the clearing for a few moments. Haku shuffled her feet.

"Well, I really should let you get back to training. I have to work in a little while anyway," she said, backing away.

"Can I get you lunch," Dosu said suddenly. Haku looked at him in surprise, a slight blush invading her face accompanied with a flutter in her chest. She shook her head.

"Sorry, what was that?" Dosu sighed, his covered eye twitching. He hating trying to be social.

"I asked if you'd like to get lunch. Before work." Haku nodded slowly.

"Yes, I think I would like that."

"Alright."

"Okay."

…

"I suppose we'd better go now before you have to go to work. What do you like?" Haku smiled. This was certainly a rocky start, but it just might pay off.

.

.

.

Naruto stretched, yawning before she pulled her blanket in closer. She frowned. This was fuzzy than her usual blanket. Wasn't the fuzzy blanket Konohamaru's? She peered through one eye, trying to keep as much sun light out of it as possible. _Wait a second!_

Naruto shot up, looking around her wildly. She didn't recognize the place she was in, but it was certainly outside the village wall. She could see the trees through the small open window right beside her. Whatever building she was in must not be too large, either. The room, at least, was only about twenty by fifteen, if she had to guess, with a second empty bedroll not too far from hers. There was a small table not too far from there with what looked like a manuscript and an ink well. The only objects in the room were two familiar looking packs. Naruto recognized hers immediately, relived to see her mother's headband, as well as Iruka's. The other backpack took a moment to place.

_Wait…that's…_ Naruto smiled. _My godfather's. I have a god father, and he knew my parents! I don't have to think of myself as adopted anymore. But, where is he?_ Naruto shrugged, deciding to get up and go look for her missing relative. She crinkled her nose as she sniffed the air.

_Blaegh; bath first, pervy sage later._

After quickly climbing a tree Naruto spotted a nearby river not far from the house. She wrote a note in case Jiriaya came back before she was done, thinking he must have left to get them some breakfast. _But why are we out here instead of back in the village? I still need to talk to Hinata again and make sure she's doing better. Not to mention I need to tell her about how I'm going to be fighting Neji in the first round. She might be able to tell me just how far he's gotten since the academy. He is pretty good, after all. I'll need every advantage I can get to beat him._

Naruto paused, frowning. That was a lot of giggling. Sighing in frustration she prepared to not be alone for her bath. She'd really wanted to keep thinking, but with all these people around, and a bath _sorely_ needed, she didn't think she'd get the chance just yet. However, just before she walked out into the open she was stopped by yet _another_ set of giggling. This one making her eye twitch.

_And here I thought he was going to get us some food…lousy god-father he is._ She walked up behind him and cupped her hands together.

"Hey, it's a pervert!" She yelled it as loud as she could…and right next to his ear. Girls went screaming and running, trying to cover themselves as well as possible before reaching their towels and clothes.

"Ow! Hey, what's the big idea! I was getting some great inspiration for my next book!" Naruto crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

"Oh yeah? Is that all you can think about is perving out every second of the day." She shook her head. "Why in the _world_ did dad make you my god-father?"

"Hey now-"

"Hey now _nothing_," she said waving a finger at him. "I came with you to train, not to watch you perv out on other girls. You wanna perv? Fine! Let's get this over with and get you your fill _now_ for the _rest of the month!_ _Sexy jutsu!_" In puff of smoke later, much to Jiriaya's confusion, and suddenly a nude, more adult, version of Naruto appeared (with strategic cloud covering) and a cute look on her face, despite her inner disgust.

Jiriaya's eye's bugged out and his jaw began to drop. An exclamation of joy had _just_ begun to work it's way out of his mouth before he slapped a hand to his eyes so hard he knocked himself over. He almost cried in agony.

"Darn it Naruto, what you doing? What kind of technique is _that_ for a young lady." Naruto, transformed back now, though Jiriaya didn't know as he still had his eyes covered.

"Hey, it's an original technique for distraction! And since you seem to want to perv so bad-"

"Hold up there! This is different. I like a good body, yes (and I think I know a few girls you could teach that jutsu to) but I draw the line at my god-daughter! That's just wrong on _soo_ many levels, Naruto."

"Oh? So you've had enough perving?"

"Heck no!"

"…pervert.

"SUPER pervert, thank-you very much, and author of a _very_ successful adult series," he said, holding up a familiar looking orange book. Naruto pointed at it, shouting surprise.

"Ahh! That's sensei's book!" Jiriaya managed to open his hand long enough to see Naruto was de-transformed.

"Oh? Kakashi's one of my fans, eh? I'll have to autograph a copy for him."

"Over my dead body!"

"Oh I doubt that."

"Well it may be true if we never get any food. And here I thought you were actually being responsible and getting us some breakfast. Some god-father _you_ are." For the first time that morning Jiriaya grinned widely and pointed behind Naruto. Looking in the indicated direction Naruto blushed got quite for a moment.

"Well, you're still a pervy sage," she finally said. "And I'll bet your fish suck." Jiriaya laughed.

"If they did I wouldn't have survived out the wild as long as I have. You actually had perfect timing. They should be done now," he said, leaning over and grabbing a couple skewered fished from the fire. "Here, eat up. We've got a _long_ day of training ahead of us."

"…thanks," Naruto said quietly as she took the proffered meal. He lightly ruffled her hair.

"No problem," he replied.

.

.

.

Over the next few days Naruto trained intensely to increase her chakra control. Though slower than Hinata, Neji would be more gifted in the rest of the Hyuuga skills, and Naruto still needed to check on her friend to try and glean information on the other gennin's skills. She found herself frustrated on this end as Jiriaya explained why they were in the forest instead of the village, but after a week of Jiriaya's food (not that it was bad, just terribly consistent) he agreed to head into the village and treat to her to a meal at a barbeque restaurant he knew. Naruto wanted ramen, of course, so her promised her ramen _after_ the exam was over, when Gaara would be gone. She reluctantly agreed after he said they could visit Hinata after since Gaara hadn't seen the two of them together and might not associate them enough to keep his eye on the Hyuuga.

"This isn't half bad," Naruto said, grabbing another slice of beef. "I still prefer ramen, but this isn't too bad a substitute."

"Well I did tell you you'd like it, gaki," the old man said, slowly eating his rice. "This is one of the best places in town, and they have a unique sauce. They guard the recipe almost as much as the anbu guard the hokage."

"Wow, talk about paranoid." Jiriaya chuckled.

"Well, when you consider the variety of food we are able to provide based on our local and climate, it's not too surprising that we have several of the best restaurants in the elemental nations either in or around Konoha. Restaurants guard their secrets as closely as shinobi do."

"Huh, I guess that makes sense. I'd love it if I could eat Ichiraku's anywhere, though."

"Ah, and _that_ is exactly why they keep their recipes secret. That way you _have_ to go to them to get your best meal."

"…oh."

"Just eat up. We need to get back to training, and you still have your friend to see-"

"Naruto! Where have you been?" Naruto turned around in surprise to see Kin standing in the entry way."

"Oh, Kin. I didn't expect to see you while I was-"

"Ahem." Naruto looked at Jiriaya in annoyance.

"Oh get off it; it's not like I need to hide from her."

"Hide? You talking about Gaara," Kin asked, walking over. Jiriaya slapped his face.

"You have no idea how to keep a secret, do you," he asked.

"Hey, I keep plenty of secrets! Like…ones I can't say right now!" Kin chuckled behind a hand.

"Oh Naruto." She shrugged. "Mind if I join you."

"Sure, pull up a cha-"

"Naruto, she works for-"

"Hey, everyone deserves a chance," Naruto cut Jiriaya off, though Kin began to look hesitant.

"I don't know; I'm guessing this is your sensei. If he doesn't like me, maybe I should leave…"

"…yeah, he's teaching me, but he can't get out of it, so if he doesn't like you, too bad." Jiriaya growled.

"Alright, gaki, but you're paying!"

"Hey! That's not how being a…how this works! Jii-san always pays." Jiriaya wagged a finger.

"Well, I'm not Sarutobi. Consider this a lesson on trust. You make a mistake, you pay the price."

"Fine, whatever," the girl grumbled, motioning for the sound nin to take a seat and order. "I suppose he have a reason to hate the snake, but I still say you should give Kin here a chance. She's…nice. By the way, what are your teammates doing?" Kin shrugged.

"Dosu's been quieter than normal, and he stared getting really mysterious over the last few days. He tells us where he'll be training, then he disappears completely during lunch. I've been trying to find him, but I haven't seen you since the prelims so I thought I'd take the chance to talk now."

"And Zaku?" She sighed.

"He keeps saying Orochimaru-sama must have had a reason for what he did, but I still don't like it. Dosu isn't sharing his thoughts, so I'm just making my own. I'm staying around for the exams, but after that, I think I'm leaving." She dropped her head. "Sound is the only place I ever felt like I belonged, but after what leader-sama did, I don't think it's a good idea to stay." Naruto reached across the table to put hold the other girl's hand.

"You know, you could stay in Konoha." Kin and Jiriaya both vehemently shook their heads, though Jiriaya's was more comical since he had rice all in his mouth. He had decided to run the bill as high as possible so Naruto would learn her lesson.

"No way; this is the first place he'd look for me! No, I have to disappear completely."

"Oh…" Kin forced a smile, noticing Naruto's downcast look.

"Hey, that doesn't mean I'll lose contact. After all, a girl has to keep all the girlfriends she can get! I'll write whenever I get the chance." Naruto brightened.

"Okay, that's fine." The meal continued as the two compared their preferred styles. Kin was surprised that Naruto never did anything with genjutsus, while Naruto was shocked at how few ninjutus' Kin knew. After a while Kin thought of something else.

"Hey Naruto, since I'm going to be leaving anyway, I think your village should know something."

"Hm? What? Is it Sound's location?" Jiriaya finally leaned forward, though Kin shook her head.

"No, I have too many friends still there, people that could be hurt. But I remember Orochimaru-sama telling us about getting a new ally a few months before we came to the exams."

"Really? Who," Jiriaya asked.

"It was the Sand." Naruto balked.

"What?" Kin nodded.

"Yes; with Orochimaru's orders, I remember wondering why those Sand genin seemed to be helping you out in the forest, and why they were attacking us." She shook her head. "It doesn't make any sense to me, but there is it. What's really confusing is how protective they are of you. I mean, to be allies with Orochimaru, I'd think that they'd be your enemies now, but all them of them seem really protective of you, especially Kankuro-san."

"The Sand…that's very interesting…" Jiriaya tapped his chin with his chopsticks, his meal forgotten.

"I'm not sure I want to be around any of them anyway," Naruto said slowly. "They all seemed really nice, and I could feel what you were just saying about them, too, but then they way they fought during the prelims…that just didn't seem right."

"That _was_ a bit harsh," Kin said. "If I hadn't trained in sound, that would have been a lot of blood, but in sound we fight each other a lot. Orochimaru-sama has some skilled healers, so it wasn't too big a deal, even if it did hurt. That's why I focused on genjutsu. It's easier to trick your opponent into not attacking you, and then you can deal the final blow."

"Only if you get caught in it, first."

"Which _you_ would. You have _no _talent for excepting genjutsu. When we meet in the finals, you're going down!"

"Oh yeah! Just wait Kin; I'll show you the kind of power that ninjutsu can deliver; believe it!"

"Only if you can find me." The two girls grinned as they went back and forth on their respective powers only to be interrupted once again.

"Umm, Naruto? Is it okay if we talk to you for a moment?" Turning to see the two figures standing beside their table, Jiriaya muttered a curse under his breath. For her part, Naruto was wishing they'd gone ahead and left already. They had finally finished eating several minutes ago, but Naruto had been delaying looking at the size of the bill.

"Hey Temari, Kankuro." She stood up. "Listen, I'm not really in the mood to talk with you just now."

"But Naruto, we need to tell you-"

"Nothing; you need to tell me nothing. Gaara's still looking for me, and you'll tell him you saw me now."

"No we won't! We just need to explain-"

"Explain what?" Naruto yelled. "All that time in the forest and at the tower I thought I had you two figured out, and you seemed really nice. You're strong, too, I can tell that. But you proved me wrong. You're not nice! You almost killed those other guys, and it just a prelim match! Now get away from me!" Naruto ran out, the two sand siblings trying to follow, but Jiriaya grabbed them both by a shoulder.

"Now now, I think you should leave her be."

"But she doesn't understand! We didn't mean to-"

"Be quite. I know the lies you've been telling her, and I don't trust you one bit. The sooner these exams are over you guys gone, the better. The only reason I don't kick you out now is because of the exam rules, but let me get one thing straight for you." His hands tightened on their shoulders. "If you do anything to hurt that girl, I'll make you _wish_ I killed you outright." A few moments later, having recovered from the killing intent sent their way, Kankuro managed to speak.

"Well, I think sis is okay, Temari. Don't think you need to worry about the 'perv' training her one bit."

"N, no, I guess you're right."

"How did you guys know he was training her?" The two jumped, having forgotten Kin's presence.

"Oh, Gaara saw her meet him a week ago. That was when he stopped being able to track her. Temari here was scared about her being trained by a pervert." Kin wrinkled her nose.

"He didn't seem like a pervert when I talked with him."

"Well, he is," Temari said flatly.

"Fine. So, what were two going to tell her?"

"Why we did what we did in the prelims. Ow!" Temari smacked Kankuro in the head. "What was that for?" Temari pointed to the girls headband with her eyes. Kankuro ignored her.

"We were a little over board, but that's because we were afraid we were being watched. Dad can be…a little eccentric, sometimes. If he thought we were being soft, then he might have us followed around, and that's really annoying. So, when we're out in the open and he can see us, we put things up a notch so we can maintain our privacy." Temari was impressed with his on-the-fly story. Granted, there was a lot of truth in what he said, but it wasn't quite true. Still, it was good. Kin could tell, of course, but the important thing was that there was enough truth to satisfy her.

_Well, _the sound nin thought_, perhaps I can hang around them enough to figure out just what they plan for Naruto. Since they aren't telling the full truth, and Gaara is obsessed, so Naruto says, I need to find out what they still aren't telling me._ She stood up.

"Well, since we're all in the finals, how about we do a little sparring together, hm? After all, none of us are fighting each other in the first set of matches, so we can afford to use our basic skills, right? And you two know all each other's abilities anyway." The siblings looked at her in surprise. Kankuro caught on first.

_So, she wants to find out what want with Naruto so she's going to try and get us more comfortable with her. Well, she seems trust worthy enough anyway, and as near as I can tell she doesn't know about the invasion plan for whatever reason. If we can work on her, I can make sure she doesn't betray Naruto when it happens._

"Alright, fine. It'll be nice to see what you sound nin can do." Temari glared at him, still behind on this line of thought. "Or maybe it would be better for it to just be the two of us. Temari doesn't seem to be happy with it." The older girl threw up her arms.

"Alright, fine! Do what you want. I'm going to find Gaara. He's probably trying to find Naruto again anyway. I can keep him off her tail for a little while longer till she gets out of the village again."

"Sorry about that," Kankuro said. "Temari just doesn't like sound very much." He shrugged, attempting to be diplomatic. "After all, you guys _did_ try to kill Naruto's boyfriend." Kin blushed.

"Hey, we were tricked!" The boy held up his hands defensively as they walked to the training grounds.

"Woah, I wasn't saying you weren't. As I keep reminding you, I wasn't there when all that went down. I'm just looking for some extra training. Naruto's safe, so I can leave it at that. That guy is serious business, so I can focus on training. She doesn't want to talk to me, anyway." Kin bit down a feeling of guilt.

"Maybe I can tell her what you guys said next time I see her," she said. The puppet user looked at her in surprise.

"Really? That would be appreciated. I'm guessing you know what we think of her by now." Kin nodded. "Thought so. I still stand by what I said the first time we talked about her. Special girl, she is, and I won't let any harm come to her." Kin nodded again. "Alright, let's get to training!"

.

.

.

"And then I was all like, 'I had you beat and you know it,' and you should have seen the look on his face! Man, I had him PO'ed!" Hinata giggled as she sat in her bed at the hospital. She was actually enjoying her current stay. After all, as far as company goes, she rather enjoyed what had been proffered to her. Not that she was going to be in the hospital much longer. Despite the quick treatment she'd been given she had managed to damage her body quite thoroughly. Her muscles were still sore, but she'd been told she was healing quickly and might be released the next day. The only sore point was that she hadn't seen Naruto since the prelims. She had thought, having her friend back, that she'd be back to visit her soon. She sighed.

"Hey, you okay, Hinata?"

"Y, yes, Kiba-kun."

"Still, perhaps you should get a little more rest," came Shino's quiet, rumbling voice. "You pushed yourself very hard against Naruto, to your credit, but I would like my teammate back soon."

"Ah it's not like you'll be around us much longer anyway. You know you'll make chuunin." Shino showed no visible reaction, but if you listened closely there was a slight buzzing sound, as if his hive was unhappy with the prospect.

"Perhaps," he mused, "but it is not set in stone…and this has been a good team."

"We, we'd miss you, too, Shino-kun." Kiba shrugged.

"Yeah, we _would_, but you're a total bad-a, Shino. You'll get promoted no problem." If the door hadn't opened so suddenly, Hinata and Kiba might have caught Shino's embarrassed blush for the rare compliment, but it was not meant to be.

"Hinata-chan! How are you doing?" Naruto stopped mid stride as she saw the other occupants. "Oh, hey guys," she said, waving slightly, still remembering her last conversation with the Inuzuka. Shino nodded to the new comer and Kiba stood.

"Well, I, I think we should let you two catch up. I guess it's been a while since you talked." He looked back and forth between the two for a moment. "Good to see you, Naruto…Hinata…chan…finish getting better." With that he walked out, Shino and Akamaru following him.

"Soooo…things going better on that front." Hinata blushed.

"N, Naruto-chan! I, I wouldn't, that is I, I don't-" Naruto laughed as she jumped up on the bed, dangling her feet off the edge.

"Ah come on, don't be so shy. He called you Hinata-_chan_! Didn't you catch that?" The Hyuuga blushed.

"Well he, he has talked to me more, and, and he told me a, about his match with, with Neji." Naruto gave a snort of displeasure.

"Teme got lucky," she said. "Kiba had him to rights, but the freak got lucky and managed to score a hit on him." She cocked her head to the side. "Actually, I think sparing with you gave him a better chance at beating Neji than he would have had otherwise."

"You, you think so," Hinata asked, looking down as her hands, cupped together in front of her.

"Yeah; the way he fought, he was going at all sides pretty much equally instead of trying to stick to the back, like you would most people. You helped him know to keep going on all sides against a Hyuuga and not underestimate their ability to retaliate from the back. That, and he also tried to stay away from giving Neji the chance to hit him." She blew her bangs out of her eyes with a huff. "Stupid mutt managed to let Neji hit him anyway, but that's alright; now _I_ get to fight 'im!"

"What?"

"Yeah, I'm fighting Neji in the first round, believe it!" Instead of excitement Hinata focused even more on her hands.

"N, Naruto-chan…he's not going to, to go easy on you. He's going to fight as, as hard as he can, since you're my friend." Naruto waved off the pessimism.

"Don't worry about that; I'm LOADS better than I used to be when we were kids, and I've got an extra special teacher now, too." Hinata looked at her friend in confusion.

"Wh, who's your teacher?"

"Jiriaya of the Sannin." Hinata's jaw dropped in uncharacteristic shock at Naruto's casual address of one of the legendary three ninja. "Personally, I'd rather call hi 'pervy sage.'"

"N, Naruto! That's hardly showing the, the proper respect for a sannin!"

"Ah, the guy's a self declared super perv," Naruto said. "He deserves it, trust me. First time I saw him, right before he agreed to train me, he was peeping at the women's baths."

"Research, I tell you, it's all research!" Naruto rolled her eyes at the muffled voice.

"Yeah, whatever," she called. "You just be glad I didn't call you out for ogling that nurse at the front desk!"

"How could anyone resist such a beautiful p-" Naruto threw a shuriken at the glass window to the room, causing Jiriaya to duck and immediately begin apologizing for the broken window to a passing doctor (unfortunately for him, it was the head of the hospital and he'd managed to catch the little exchange, so the man made sure Jiriaya was walked to the front desk to write a check for the repair payment).

"See? What did I tell you?" Hinata was at a lose.

"Well I, I guess he does seem the type too…mmm…"

"Hey don't worry 'bout him. I've got something even better to hang over his head whenever he gets out of line," she said, grinning evilly. "Oh yes, I've got him under my thumb! But enough about me, how are you feeling?" Hinata went on to explain the daily protein treatments she'd been getting for over doing it, and the small chakra exercises she was performing to make sure her charka network was recovering.

"Actually, I think it got a little strong," she said to her friend. "I, I've looked at it with the byakugan since the last time they checked, and it's a little clearer and thicker now. Somehow I, I managed to build it up even better than when I broke it down." Naruto smiled.

"That's great! I knew you'd be a good Kunoichi before, but now you're gonna really kick butt; way to go Hinata-chan!"

"Thank-you, Naruto-chan."

"Hey, Gaki, now that you've made me have to pay for the window it's time to go. We've lost most of the day and you've got a long way to go to beat that Neji kid."

"Okay okay, just a second," she said, turning back to Hinata after calling to the man standing in the doorway. "Well, guess I've gotta go. Any advice on Neji before I go?" Hinata thought for a moment.

"His network is really well developed," she said, thinking back to when she saw his network during the exam, "and from what Kiba-kun said his eyes are good enough to see individual tenketsu points. He can go right after your chakra system. He may know the 64 trigrams, if he's managed to do all that on his own already. There's a scroll on other advanced Hyuuga techniques in the drawer of my room. Hanabi might be able to get it for you, if you see her."

"Nah, she won't need that; I know most of the Hyuuga clans techniques. Fought beside a lot of them back in the last war. This way that Neji kid will have no idea that our girl here will know what's coming." Hinata nodded.

"Alright, I suppose." She reached over and grabbed Naruto's hand. "You'll be alright?" Naruto grinned widely.

"Of course! Good luck with Kiba, Hinata."

"Thank-you." Naruto jumped off the bed and walked to the door, Jiriaya leading the way.

"Hey, Hinata…if I don't make chuunin, I want to see you in the finals." Hinata smiled.

"Believe it."

* * *

**So, the part I really didn't like was where Temari and Kankuro show up. I felt really dissatisfied with that, but I like what I ended up doing with Naruto's reaction. I felt it was more appropriate than what I had originally planned occurring, and it gave Kin an opening to be around the sand siblings more (which I needed to have happen for later in the story) (hint hint).**

**I feel half good about the conversation with Hinata, but I liked the awkward moment for Kiba there. :) He's still figuring things out, obviously, but he's paying more attention to Hinata now.**

**Well, that's all my thoughts, for now. Leave yours by pressing that little button that says review!**

**Last note-sorry to all those people who have faved/alerted/reviewed the story since last chapter. I usually PM each person sooner, but I've been busy with work, and with getting this last chapter done. I'll get to all of you soon!**


	25. Visit From the Shadow

**Another look at Naruto's training, and Jiriaya lets her in on a little secret after deciding she must already have the basic idea. Though it might be handy, even though I usually groan when people write this training secret coming out early. They just don't do it in a good way, I think. most people, anyway. Up to you to decide of my way(s) are any better.**

**Also, Naruto has a few run-ins with other characters she's been known to hang out with, and someone tracks her down...GUESS WHO! :D**

**Read and enjoy!**

**notice-ff style, disclaimer no jutsu!**

* * *

"Again!"

*Poof*

"Again!"

*Poof*

"ARG! WHY CAN'T I GET THIS?" Naruto scratched her head furiously as she tried to work out her frustrations at once again failing to properly summon a toad. It had been several days since their last sojourn into the village and though Naruto had tried valiantly to get proper control of her chakra in order to focus it and summon a toad, nothing was working. Jiriaya had been sitting on a rock watching her for the last several minutes as she went through her last several attempts. He had been like that ever since he watched her summoning clones to drain her own chakra and get more immediate access to the kyuubi's vast stores of chakra.

"Hey Naruto, come over and take a breather. You've worked hard enough for one morning." Naruto sent him a glare for interrupting her.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I don't quit till I've got it right," she declared, trying, and failing, once again to summon a toad. "AAAHHHH! I bet snakes would be MUCH easier to summon than these stupid toads!"

"Hey now, these are toads we're talking about. They're _much _more useful than snakes are; you just have to get them to come to you, first."

"More useful? How, huh? They won't come to me right now, they smell, they give you warts, and snakes EAT toads!" Jiriaya laughed.

"Oh, that'd be a good one, haha! I'd like to see Manda try to eat Gamabunta, heheheh!" Naruto paused to look at her godfather in confusion.

"Manda? Gamabunta?"

"Oh, those are the boss summons for the snake and toad contracts. Gamabunta's actually a bit bigger than Manda is; not to mention he actually has a weapon and used ninjutsu all the time."

"What? He can use ninjutsu?"

"Yeah, of course. After all, toads have hands. _They_ can make handsigns. Snakes are a bit more…limited, we'll say, as I'm sure you've noticed. Besides," he said, shrugging, "toads are a summons for fighting mostly. Snakes, while they have their uses in a fight, are more for stealth and messages. Which one do you really think would fit you better?" Naruto screwed her face up.

"Fine, I guess you're right. I still think they're gross, though." He waved a hand at her.

"Oh I'm sure you'll change your mind once you meet them. Come on over, though. I've got a few thoughts for your training, but it will be easier to think if you take a few seconds to rest." Naruto blew some of her hair out of her eyes.

"Fine, I'll take a _short_ break," she said, plopping herself down on the grass next to Jiriaya's rock. Staring up at the sky she started wondering what Sasuke was doing. While relatively compliant to her desire to go to the village, Jiriaya had told her that she needed to stay away from Sasuke for the moment if for no other reason than to keep Gaara off their tracks. She was missing her boyfriend terribly, and each cloud was starting to resemble his duck-butt hair.

"You really seem to like using those shadow clones." Naruto raised an eyebrow in the old man's direction. "Why?" The girl shrugged.

"Why not? Instead of one of me, all of a sudden I have, like, a hundred mes. Even Kakashi sensei almost went down for that one…the teme did, too," she muttered.

"Yes, Mizuki. Of course, he was only a chuunin, and your class is relatively gifted compared to the average graduating class."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but that's not the important part. Back to the shadow clones, why do you say they're like, quote, 'a hundred mes'?"

"What's a quote?" Jiriaya stared at her for a moment before face-palming himself.

"'What's a quite,'" he muttered. "To 'quote' is to use someone's own words, like just now I used your words to ask a question."

"Huh?" _Patience, must use patience. I was kinda dumb at that age, too._

"If you say something I don't understand, I repeat it and ask you to explain it." Naruto continued to look at him blankly. _Oh my gosh; she can't be THAT dense._ He opened his mouth to try again when another voice spoke up.

"It's like if blue and red. If blue wants to use red for something, he takes a piece of red. If he wants to know about red, he takes a piece of red and asks red about it." Jiriaya looked at the newly appeared women is surprise.. Her explanation made _no_ sense.

"What the heck-"

"Oh! _NOW_ I get it!" Jiriaya fell over.

"What? After all those clear explanations she gives you the biggest crap of bull and _now_ you think you understand?"

"Well, maybe the 'biggest crap of bull' isn't as big as you think," Naruto said. "Quote."

…

…

"How did you know that would work?" Anko rolled her eyes.

"Please, I've known Naruto for years, unlike some people. I know how her minds works better than anyone."

"Uh huh. Well, thank-you for that, but you should go."

"What? But I haven't seen Anko nee-chan in two weeks!"

"It's not safe! If that kid is tracking her then he might already be on his way here!"

"Well you can hide me! Why not her?"

"Because, Gaki, it spreads my concentration too thin! Do you have any idea how hard it is just to include _you_ in this jutsu all the time without stopping?"

"Doesn't look like it's too hard. After all, I heard some girls in town talking about being perved on at the river spot."

"Hmmm… I was wondering how you found us. Guess someone like you _would_ manage to think that up. Still, that kid Gaara could have tailed you."

"Pft, as if. The brats only a genin; he doesn't stand a chance trying to follow someone like me." Jiriaya raised an eyebrow.

"No? Not even with the power of the Ichibi?"

"…What?"

"That kid's a jinchuuriki, just like Naruto, only he isn't always in control, so I've heard." Anko's face paled. A considerable feat.

"Is, is that why he thinks she's his…"

"It's possible."

"But then, why-"

"Hey, still here! You guys want to stop ignoring me?" Both adults looked back over to the girl, now standing in a stance that was very familiar to Jiriaya. It was Kushina's 'I'm ticked at you' stance.

"Uhh, sorry, Naruto. Like I said, it's hard to concentrate," he said, glad for the excuse. "That's another reason it's better for us to stay alone. The more people around, the more talking and distractions," he said.

"Oh yeah? Well, I believe it was _me_ that got Naruto to understand what a 'quote' was, wasn't it?"

"Perhaps, but now I have a good idea how do it. And I already said that Gaara could have tracked you. Regardless of wether or not I ended up including you in my jutsu, I'll have to find a new spot to train Naruto at, and this was a really good one."

"Yeah, thanks to the springs."

"Yes, actually. Naruto, tell her what you've been working on for the last two weeks."

"Umm…I've been doing chakra control and toad summoning."

"DARN IT! I _knew_ you were going to do that! Naruto's supposed to be next snake summoner, not a _toad_ summoner!"

"And do what? Fight with them? I worked with your sensei for years, Anko, and I know they're capabilities in a straight fight. They don't fit Naruto and you know it." He softened his voice. "I know you love Naruto, and I'm grateful you've done so well looking for her over the years, but Naruto isn't suited for snakes, and that's something I'm sure you've known for a long time. Of course, if Naruto does want to sign the snake contract eventually, that's her choice and I won't stop her, but for now it's better that she train in a style that's more suited for her." Anko glared at him for a moment before looking down.

"Hai, sannin-san." She fought back the tears. It was true; in the back of her mind she had known Naruto would be better off going a different way, but she had hoped…he thoughts were paused as she felt a small pair of arms encircle her. "Naruto?"

"Anko nee-chan, pervy sage is right about the summons, but that doesn't mean I like them better than you. You're my sister, right? I'll always love you, more than anything but ramen. You've been there for me like no one else." She frowned. "And pervy sage is also probably right about Gaara. It…it might be better to just avoid each other for the next two weeks before the exam. I'll be okay, I promise. The old man will make sure." Anko sighed.

"Alright, fine." She glared at the toad sage. "If she gets one scratch on her-"

"Ninja," he interjected. Anko growled.

"If she gets one _serious_ injury under your watch, I'll remove your reason for perving." Jiriaya smiled and gave her a thumbs up with trying not to gulp down the sudden lump in his throat or show any other sign that he was scared. Anko knelt down gave Naruto a full on hug.

"Alright, you take care with the old perv, k? I expect you to kick some serious butt in the finals." Naruto grinned.

"You got it nee-chan!"

"Alright; bye." She left with that, though a few seconds later Jiriaya spoke up again.

"Make a shadow clone."

"Huh? Why?"

"Well, a shadow clone is the same as you, and this one won't be under cover of my jutsu once it leaves this clearing. If Gaara _did_ follow her, we can make it look like you left, and you can spend some time with Anko until we're sure he isn't here anymore."

"Oh…oh! That's cool! I like it! Shadow clone jutsu!" A second Naruto poofed into existence. "Alright, you know the deal; catch up with nee-chan and do your job!"

"Right boss!" The clone took off. _Maybe _this_ will get her to see my point I was trying to make. After all, it's a little off the wall, and probably the first time she's really been separated from a clone._

"Okay, back to work! You're control obviously isn't good enough yet, so back to working on that leaf!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

Meanwhile, Gaara looked up suddenly from where he was concentrating.

_"There!"_

.

.

.

"That creep is okay, I guess," the purple haired special Jounin muttered.

"Yeah, he is," Naruto's clone replied. "He's been a great teacher, even if he is a born ol' perv…and he knew my parents really good…" As Anko peered at the clone she noticed the pensive and far away look in her eyes. She almost seemed to have a familial bond with her new teacher. Anko wasn't sure if that was a good thing at all.

"Well, I've got to get busy, I suppose, and Iruka-kun will want to know about your training."

"Oh yeah, how is that going?" Anko blushed, looking around.

"Well, I'm not supposed to tell anyone, but since you're a clone I guess it's okay; Iruka kun's taking me to a special dinner next week, and he has a surprise for me, but he won't say what it is." The clone's eyes bugged out.

"WHAT? But, well I guess…but is it really _that_, do you think?"

"Maybe. I kind of hope it is." Naruto smiled.

"You really do love him, just like you said, don't you?" Anko moved to bop the clone on the head before remembering how easily a clone could dispel.

"I owe Naruto a bump on the head for that one."

"Hey, leave boss outta this!"

"Well, Naruto-chan would have said it, too," Anko pointed out, "but yes, I do. I might actually be happy if he's planning what I think he is."

"Yeah, boss will be happy, too. Then she can start calling him nii-san instead of sensei?" Anko groaned as clone Naruto sported a large grin.

"Whatever, you little brat. Now go on, off with you. Make an appearance for that Gaara kid, and don't you DARE spill what I told you!"

"Of course!" With that clone Naruto bounded off in search of Naruto's friends. At least they could all know that Naruto was still doing fine. Anko shook her head at the perfect Naruto styled antics and walked towards her apartment. She had never been terribly girly, but in anticipation of her night out with Iruka, she'd rather taken a fancy to planning things…

.

.

.

The first sight clone Naruto came across made her trip so hard she almost dispelled herself. Sitting in an open restaurant was Haku, with the boy Dosu from the sound village of all things. _Boss likes Kin alright, but this guys said he was going to kill Sasuke-kun. What are they up to?_ She hid behind a small tree as she spied on them, slowly moving it closer to try and hear what they were saying.

"…and that's how Zaku managed to give himself a buzz cut." Haku giggled.

"I suppose he should more careful when experimenting with new jutsu. Have you ever had a jutsu accident yourself?" Dosu pointed to the bandages still covering most of his face.

"My eye is a little sensitive to light these days, but I could get back alright if I had to. That happened the first time I tried to use my gauntlet. It is a very difficult piece of equipment to use."

"How did you master it?" Dosu looked very odd with a smile, Naruto decided.

"Ah, if I tell you, you'll tell your friend, and then where will I be for the finals? Not that she's likely to make it past the first round." Haku frowned as she stirred her drink.

"I think you'll find that Naruto is full of surprises," she said, finally. Dosu raised an eyebrow. "Ah, if I tell you, you'll use that information against her in the finals," she said, using the same teasing tone that Dosu had a moment ago.

"He sounds weird when he chuckles, too."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Naruto jumped.

"Kin! What are you doing here?"

"Trying to figure out what Dosu's been up to; looks like we have our answer."

"…looks like he's having lunch with Haku-chan. What does it look like to you?"

"It looks to me like they have a conflict of interests." Naruto stared until Kin continued. "Dosu refuses to tell us what he's planning, so I'm betting he's trying to get close to and Sasuke so he _can_ decide what he wants to do, and Haku is trying to be your guardian angel, getting him to gently loosen up and be more free with any information he knows." She snorted. "Dosu doesn't know any more about Orochimaru's plans than I do." She stood up. "Well, it's good to see you again, Naruto, but I've got to go now. I used up my whole lunch trying to track down Dosu and I have a training appointment."

"Really? Anyone I know?" Kin grinned slyly.

"Kankuro, actually."

"What?"

"Shhh!" Kin pulled Naruto down as Haku looked around in confusion. She could have sworn she'd heard Naruto's voice.

"Haku? You alright?" She shook her head.

"Sorry; just thought I heard something." Dosu shrugged as he motioned for a nearby waiter and ordered desert for Haku.

"Sorry," Kin muttered as Naruto rubbed her head where the hair was Kin had grabbed to pull her down. "I didn't think you'd like her know you were spying on her."

"I suppose not, but that still doesn't explain what you're doing with Kankuro."

"…did I tell you what he told me when I first met him?"

"No. Do I care?"

"It was right after you offered me your friendship. He told me that if I ever did anything to hurt you, he'd come after me himself and punish me." Naruto looked at her oddly.

"That doesn't make any sense. Then again, as mean as he was to that one guy-"

"Oh, he also gave me a half truth as to why they did that."

"Really?" Kin nodded.

"Filtering out the garbage, someone keeps an eye on them and they want to look like they're mean in the general public, but they don't want to be."

"What?"

"If they don't act a certain way in certain places, they get spied on and can't have a private life. I think that that's true, but I don't know who they're doing it for, or why."

"…that still didn't make it right."

"Naruto, if you knew half the things I've done, working for Orochimaru, I don't think you'd want to be my friend. I don't trust them either, really, but we're shinobi. Sometimes we do things we don't like or didn't mean to, but even we can change, can't we?" Naruto huffed.

"You make me feel really guilty about this, you know?"

"Of course! Friends are the best at giving guilt trips, next to mothers." Naruto stiffened slightly. "Oh, right. I forgot you were an orphan, too."

"Only sort of," Naruto said. "Jii-san adopted me right after my parents died, and this headband on my pouch was my moms. It just…hurts to think of parents sometimes…" Her mind turned back to the few short memories she had of Sarutobi's son and daughter in law, Konohamaru's parents…the couple that had been raising her as their own until their deaths. It was the closest thing she'd ever had to a real family, and to be reminded that she'd lost _two_ sets of parents…hurt more than it did most orphans.

"Still, I'm sorry." The stood in silence for a moment. "Well, I need to meet Kankuro. I'm trying to figure him out, and what they're really after about you. I think he does care, but the story about being siblings seems bull. I'll let you know if I found out anything next time I see you."

"Okay. Thanks, Kin. You're a good friend." Kin smiled softly.

"Thank-you, Naruto, but you're a much better one than you realize." As Kin walked away Naruto spared one more glace at Haku and Dosu before leaving as discreetly as possible. Dosu smirked as he saw her walk away. Haku closed her eyes and wished her friend well.

.

.

.

Clone Naruto had been wandering around for some time now. She'd had minor meet and greets with several people she knew. Fortunatly none of them had been Ino. She wasn't sure she wanted to face the other blonde's wailing at the loss of _her_ 'Sasuke-kun'. She had frowned, though, as several people seemed to give her more respect than they used to. She was trying to decide if it was because of how well she was doing as a shinobi, or if it was because of her now open relationship with the last Uchiha. She was hoping the former. The later was just annoying. Before Clone Naruto was able to continue her thoughts, she felt a familiar presence and sighed.

"I thought you'd find me, eventually." A boy stepped out from the shadows.

"Nee-chan, you've been hiding from me."

"Yeah, and me, too!"

"Where you been boss?" Naruto turned around to face…the Konohamaru corps.

"Sorry guys, I've been busy, but I'm glad I found you, squirt. We haven't spent much time together lately." Konohamaru crossed his arms and pouted.

"Nee-chan, you promised you'd play with us when the exam was over; it's been over for two weeks now and I haven't even _seen_ you! And jii-san says you ran off to get training with some other old guy. What gives?" Naruto knelt down, gently rubbing the boy on his head.

"Ah, Konohamaru, don't be like that! I'm getting training from a sannin for the last part of the chuunin exams. Didn't you remember there are three parts, not two? The exam's going to be in another two weeks, and then I can play, just like I promised."

"Wow, you're getting training by a sannin," Moegi said with stars in her eyes. "Boss really is the greatest! Is it Tsunade?" Naruto shook her head.

"Moegi, Konohamaru said it was an old _guy_, remember," Udon said, wiping his continually dripping nose. "It would have to be Jiriaya, the toad sage." Moegi's stars disappeared.

"Eeeew, why does he have a name like that."

"Um, well…he summons toads," Naruto said, "and he's teaching me how to do that, too."

"Gross!" Moegi said.

"Cool!" Was the two boys' reply.

"Foolish." Four heads whipped around to see a short red haired child standing on the room of the building they were next to.

"Gaara…" The sand genin jumped down.

"Naruto, you've been hiding long enough. I'm not letting you out of my sight again. You're making mother angry by always running away."

"Well I don't care," clone Naruto said as she stuck her tounge out and pulled an eye down. "So there!" Gaara's sand began to stir, swirling around the girl.

"Ahh! Boss, what's going on?"

"Nee-chan, what's he doing?" Naruto waved a hand to calm the three academy students down.

"Don't worry guys; Gaara can't do anything to me." He raised an eye.

"Oh? You believe that, despite me showing otherwise I am unable to capture you and return to your true home." Clone Naruto grinned.

"Of course not; I've been being sneaky my whole life. It's no problem to avoid _you_." She lifted a hand, waving at him. "Konohamaru, I'll see you after the exams. Gaara…see ya, sucker!" With that she poofed away, even as Gaara tried to get a firm grip on her with his sand. His face twitched in anger and frustration.

"Wow, boss can do that? We have to learn it! Come on Kono-kun, Udon-kun, let's find her again!" Moegi grabbed her friends and began dragging them after her as her Kunoichi inspiration disappeared, leaving Gaara to stand there, clenching and unclenching his fist.

"Soon," he said, "soon you will be out of tricks, and then, when you have nowhere to run, I'll catch you, and then you'll never get away again."

.

.

.

"Come one, why can't I try a summon again! You've been making me do these exercises all day!"

"Calm down, gaki. There's something important about shadow clones you need to learn so until…err, I mean, the leaf exercise is really important," he finished loudly, trying to cover his mistake. Naruto eyed him suspiciously.

"You said 'shadow clones.' How am I supposed to be learning about shadow clones when all I do is this stupid leaf exercise!" Jiriaya tried to gesture in a calming manner.

"Hey, calm down. I promise, it'll pay off, and once you figure out the…other thing, it will make this leaf exercise a _whole_ lot easier!"

"How can shadow clones make it easier? I mean, it's not like I can…have them do it…at the same…time…." Naruto's eyes glazed over for a short moment as he mouth slowly formed an 'o' of surprise, then she grinned. "Iruka-sensei's proposing to Anko nee-chan? Sweet! … oh crap, I'm not supposed to tell anyone." Naruto began to panic. "You can't tell her I said that! She said no one else is supposed to know! _I'm_ not even supposed to know since she thought my clone wouldn't remember!" The old man laughed.

"Of course I won't tell; wouldn't do me much good to have a dead granddaughter now, would it?" Naruto gave a shaky grin and settled down.

"Th, th, thanks," she said. "Whew! I think I'll be okay now." Jiriaya let her settle down and sort through the clone's memories. "So…since I can remember what my clones do, and you were saying shadow clones make the leaf exercise easier…what does it do? I mean, if all I can do is remember that doesn't so me much good. It'll just be me trying to do the exercise several times over. What's the secret you wanted me to figure out?"

"Ah, well, it _is_ the remembering thing, but I guess your clone didn't use any jutsu while it was gone." He held up a finger as he went into explanation mode. "You see, Naruto, there are several types of memory. The main one you do naturally, remembering what you see and hear, right?" Naruto nodded.

"And Iruka sensei talked about 'muscle memory.'" Jiriaya smiled. So she _wasn't_ a complete dim bulb. He had started to wonder, just a little.

"Right. Just like how you have those two memories, you have 'chakra' memory.' If you get used to doing a jutsu, it becomes easier and easier to do again. This makes it take less effort and chakra to do it. This is also how you gain greater control of your chakra." He pointed at her. "Most people can't do that much with clones because of their small reserves. _You_, however, have so much you make clones like most people breath. Also, most people are too structured in their thought process. _You_, however, are always taking things from a different point of view than other people, and multiple points of view at the same time. What you're going to do wouldn't work for most people, even if they did have your reserves, simply because they are too structured."

"…so you're saying I'm a hyperactive knucklehead?" Jiriaya winced.

"That comes close, but it was a little more complimentary than _that_."

"Unpredictable as well?"

"…that actually pretty well sums it up, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

"I see…well, due to that 'unpredictability,' you can have several clones all working on the same problem, or exercise, and they will all try different angles. When they are dispelled you'll gain all their memories of their mental experience for trying the task, and their chakra experience, too. Then you start off on your own with _more_ control than you would have had, _and_ the summation…culmination…and all of their thoughts on how to do it as well. With this, you can see what worked best in all of them and combine them." Naruto's eyes had been slowly widening and brightening.

"All right! I'll have the best chakra control you've ever seen in no time! Shadow clone jutsu!" A few dozen clones all appeared, quickly grabbing leaves and staring the exercise. Jiriaya smiled. _Well, she may be a little slow on some things, but she definitely gets the points for enthusiasm. She'll get this in no time._ He glanced over his shoulder towards the river. _Aaaaah, between Anko and Naruto there's no chance of any girls being over their right now anyway. Guess I should just start writing the next chapter and revise it when I have a chance to get more inspiration later._ He turned back to observing the Narutos, giving small hints of advice now and then to individuals as the day wore on. She should be able to get the summoning right soon.

* * *

**Okay, so that's what happens here. Naruto gets an early update, kind of like you guys. :) I'm happy to say that my writing is going fairly quickly as I approach the end of the story. It feels weird to say it, but after all the guesses I've had in the past about how long this story will be, i'm finally in the home stretch. Talking about it with my Hime, I think i've got under 10 chapters to go before the story is completed. *shakes head* Weird.**

**Well, I think this was a decent chapter. What do you guys think? LEAVE A REVIEW! PLEEEEEASE! :)**

**As always, thank-you for reading. Take care everyone!**

**ps-**

**I know there are a few spelling mistakes. I took note of them before, but I didn't fix them at the time, and now i can't find them. SORRY!**

**pps-**

**love you hime. :3**


	26. The Fight of Destiny

**Well, i hinted to a couple of you that there would be a surprise...and here it is! An update one day after the previous one! :) Once again, you can thank himeflye for the quick update. It's her birthday! So, sweety,here's another birthday present for you. 3**

**This chapter starts the third chuunin exam, the beginning of the end. First up? Naruto vs Neji, of course. **

**Warning- the fight is pretty close to the original, but there are some differences notably in dialogue since Naruto already knows the whole story and has been friends with Hinata for years. I also show that this Naruto is able to think a little faster than the canon Naruto at this point. Also, I put in a reconciliation scene a little earlier than I intended. Sometimes it just works like that. **

**Anyway, read and enjoy!**

**notice-ff style, disclaimer no jutsu!**

* * *

Two weeks passed by for the chuunin finalists like two days. They trained intensely, honing their skills and preparing for their competition. Plans were made and lines were drawn yet most remained oblivious to the coming danger. One who knew was the Konoha shinobi, and proctor of the third exam, Hayate. Unfortunately, he found himself tied in a small room for most of that month. He had been defeated in battle by the Sand shinobi Baki, the leader of the Sand's genin team, after spying on him and Kabuto, whose loyalties were revealed to be to the Sound, rather than the Leaf village. It surprised him to discover he was being kept alive and well fed. In fact, the time had arrived for another meal.

"Breakfast time, proctor-san," the blond haired girl from Sand said as she walked into the small room with a tray of food. "The exams are today, you know." He spat at the ground after a small cough.

"And yet I won't be there to see them, will I?" Temari shook her head.

"No; we can't let you go just yet."

"Just yet?"

"Of course; we don't approve of what our village is doing, but we have to maintain appearances. We can't allow you to leave since you'd blow the whole thing and our seeming treachery would be revealed."

"Hmph." *cough* Temari looked at him in apology.

"I'm sorry, but that's just how things are. Konoha cannot know of the coming attack, but we've done as much as we can to foil it, and they already know that Orochimaru is here so they ought to be prepared anyway." She lifted a piece of sausage to him, which he refused to eat. She sighed.

"Again? Which part do you want me to eat to prove it's safe?"

"A bite on the third mark on each side, then take the fork into your mouth as well." She did as he asked without hesitation.

"See? No poison."

"Either that or you already took the antidote."

"Kankuro's the one who likes poisons, not me. I like a straight fight. I'll have that at the exam, I suppose. Just have to watch out for that Nara kid's shadow techniques." Hayate grunted as he went ahead and ate the sausage. "Of course, the match I'm really looking forward to is Naruto's. She seemed to have something against that Hyuuga kid, which is odd since she seemed to be friends with the other Hyuuga girl."

"Clan problems," he muttered.

"Really?"

"No secret there." Swallow. "The Hyuuga clan as a main family and a branch family. Hyuuga Hinata is the heir, and Hyuuga Neji is her cousin. His father was put into the branch family when they were children, and later died in his place. Hyuuga Neji took it hard and probably blames Hyuuga Hinata. If she and Naruto are friends, that's the bad blood."

"Hmm. Well, I hope she wins. Naruto's a special girl." *cough*

"As if you'd know."

"I do, actually, in more ways than one."

"Mmhmm."

"Well, I know about the fox inside her, for example, just like Gaara has the Shukaku," she informed him, much to his shock. _So that's why he's so strong…_

"But the only part about that that's impressive is her control over the beast, and her bright attitude despite it. No, what's _really_ special about Naruto is her passion. She _believes_ in things, with all her heart, and she won't stop until what she loves is safe. I can see that about her, and I want to make sure she's always able to fulfill her dreams." Hayate stared for several moments as Temari continued to feed him. For once he did have her inspect each morsel.

"Why? Why care about Naruto?" Temari smiled.

"That's between us and her, and whoever we feel like sharing to. I don't feel like sharing to you, sorry." She stood up.

"Well, once the fighting gets started you'll be released. I'll leave some food upstairs if you want to grab a sandwich or an apple before you join in."

"And why should I trust you?" Temari turned in the doorway.

"Because, through this whole ordeal, we have never once poisoned or questioned you. We are still loyal to sand, but we won't aid in the destruction of the leaf. Like my brother says: there's a loyalty that surpasses even the loyalty to your village, and that's the one to your friends."

"Good luck," she said, nodding to him and walking up the stairs.

_An interesting philosophy. But still, why?_

.

.

.

"Alright, you ready, Naruto?" The young girl nodded as the older man clapped a hand on her shoulder. "I thought so. Just remember what we talked about, and don't let your guard down. One misstep and he'll have you shut down, which isn't a good thing, even _with_ your ace in the hole."

"Ah get off it, I'll be fine! I promised Hinata-chan I'd take Neji down, and that's what I'm gonna do! And Uzumaki Naruto doesn't go back on her word." Jiriaya smiled.

"Of course." He stood to his full height and waved as he walked off. "Do your best; I've got some sleuthing to do, like I told you." Naruto snorted.

"Yeah, _pervy_ sage, _sleuthing_." She shook her head, knowing just what all went into the man's information gathering strategy but waved back to him anyway before turning around to look at the entryway to the arena. Inside she would have a chance to prove herself, but also, all the problems she'd been able to avoid the last month as she trained would resurface. Of course, Sasuke-kun would be there, too. She smiled. _I think I can handle it,_ she decided, and walked in.

The atmosphere inside was completely different from outside. The tall walls confined the noise from the crowd that had been gathering for the last hour. Once the girl walked past the walls, the full barrage hit like a herd of oxen. The first moment deafened her, but her ears quickly adjusted as she spotted where the other contenders stood and made her way toward them.

"Hey, Kin! How are you?" Kin smiled as her friend approached the line of combatants, motioning to a spot on her side…away from the sand siblings. Temari and Kankuro waved to her but Gaara kept his reaction down to an annoyed eye twitch. "So, how'd your training go?"

"It was great! I'm gonna totally whoop everyone's butt! And yours?" Kin laughed.

"Don't think you'll have an easy time beating me! Remember, you have to beat my genjutsu before you can best me kid."

"Of course, you'll have to make it through your teammate and me before you can face Naruto," Kankuro said, speaking up. "I think we've established that you have a hard time beating my puppetry." Kin blushed.

"Well, it's not like I haven't left a few tricks up my sleeve for you, either." Naruto glared as the two gave a short verbal spar.

"Hey Naruto, glad to see you again. The old guy a good teacher?"

"What's it to you?" He held up his hands to ward off her anger.

"Hey, just trying to be civil here. I promise, though, it won't be as bad as it was in the prelims."

"What won't?" He glanced up at the stands.

"Despite _him_ being here, Temari and I have figured out how to win without being too mean. We just need to make sure that our superiority is clear, and we'll be fine."

"Hmph!" Naruto crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air. "Well, I still don't trust you anymore."

"That's…alright, I guess. Once the exam is over you won't see us anyway. Temari and I still want to keep in contact, but if you want, we'll let you be."

"And Gaara? What will you do about him?" Kankuro scratched his head.

"Still working on that, but Gaara's his own law, you know that. We just need to convince him you're better off here than in Suna." Naruto snorted.

"Fat chance of _that_!"

"It's a work in progress!"

"If you don't mind, we're going to start now," the new Procter said to them.

"Huh? But wait, where's Sasuke-kun? We can't start without him!" The hokage greeting the spectators as Naruto continued to talk to the proctor.

"Sorry, but we have to; these people don't want to be kept waiting."

"But he's one of the finalists!" The man shrugged.

"If he doesn't show up, he gets an automatic forfeit." Naruto's face clouded. _Sasuke would have dragged his own body back to get to the match…and to me. Did something happen?_ She jerked her head up and looked angrily at the sand genin.

"Gaara! What did you do to Sasuke-kun!" The red head gave her a bored look.

"You toy was training last time I saw him. I still do not approve."

"Exactly! You and your stupid approval; you tried to bump Sasuke-kun off, didn't you?" His siblings looked at him in surprise.

"I suppose he might, at that," Kankuro said slowly.

"Yeah, but what about Naruto's promise? Gaara, did you do anything to Naruto's boyfriend, or didn't you." Gaara rolled his eyes.

"Sasuke is in perfect health. Nothing is keeping him from reaching the exam. Pity; I had hoped I'd get to kill him in the exam."

"Not on your life!"

"…"

"Alright, settle down. We're starting now," the proctor said, holding up a chart. You all remember who you're fighting? Good.

"This being the final test the rules are basically the same; win by knock-out or death. Just remember that if I say the match is over, it's over. I'll step in to stop you if I have to. Also, as you can see, the arena is different now than the one you fought in before, more varied. Use the terrain if you feel like

"First up, Hyuuga Neji and Uzumaki Naruto. Everyone else, go to the waiting area." Naruto grinned as she looked over at Neji while the others left. Naruto cracked her knuckles.

"Well, Neji, I've been waiting a long time for _this_ fight, and this time Hinata won't be stopping me from kicking your trash." Neji flipped his hair as he fell into a jukken stance.

"Such things do not matter. You have been, are, and ever will be a looser. Every fight with me ends in your defeat, and it is your destiny to lose against me again this day."

"I've got a thing or two to tell you about destiny, jerk, and but I'll say this first," she declared, hand on her hip, finger pointing to him. "I make my own destiny!"

In the stands several people voiced their opinions on the match.

"She doesn't stand a chance against someone like him," Ino said to Sakura.

"This will be good," Kiba said to Hinata. She nodded, smiling as being able to sit relatively alone with her crush.

"Eh, she just got here on luck," said a chuunin sitting next to them.

"Yeah, so against someone like this Neji…"

"It's the end of the line." Kiba snorted.

"You, you're wrong," Hinata said quietly.

"Eh? Aren't you a Hyuuga, too?"

"Yeah, she is," Kiba said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "What of it?"

"I just would've thought she'd support her family."

"Naruto there is her best friend," he said, "and anyone who underestimates her pays the price. You think she can't beat a Hyuuga? Hinata here fought harder than I ever thought was possible, even better than a _chuunin_," he said, "and Naruto still managed to beat her. Place your bets, boys, but if you bet on Neji, you're gonna loose. Naruto's gonna win this match for Hinata here, and prove to that pompous jerk how special they both are."

While Hinata blushed at Kiba's speech, back in the arena Neji and Naruto had walked off some distance to stand ready for the match. The proctor looked back and forth, making sure they were ready.

"…begin!"

Naruto immediately called on two sets of clones. One charged Neji directly while the other aimed kunai and shuriken at him.

"Take this, teme!" Neji smirked as he prepared for the attack. He dodged the incoming projectiles and began to systematically take out the clones. _She told Hinata she liked to be in the midst of the fight; that will be her down fall. If she is here now, I will defeat her quickly. If she is not, then she will assume I will continue to believe she is present in the attack, and then I take her out from where she really is, hanging back. Simpleton._

_I can use this attack to test his limits on speed and flexibility, not to mention his dodging, then I can adjust my attacks. He'll probably think I'll revert to being in the crowd like I told Hinata I like to do, then he'll figure out I'm back here. I need to stay unpredictable, going back and forth for as long as it takes to defeat him._

In a matter of moments, and some careful dodging from Naruto when Neji got in close, Naruto's clones were all dispelled, and Naruto gained insight from their experience. _Yes, he did assume I was in there. Everything strike made him use a decent amount of chakra._ She smiled. _And I have _plenty_ more than he does._

"Why do you grin? You are a fool, with no chance at achieving your dream." Naruto laughed.

"Really? Are we going to go on this tirade again? 'Only a few become kage,' and 'you can't get it just by trying hard.' Blah blah, Neji, I've heard it all before. I'll show you my power yet, and even though I can shove a good bit of 'destiny' up your arse, I'll show you that what _I_ achieve, I achieve through hard work!"

Naruto moved in to attack, this time joining in, though being careful to avoid his strikes. Now having a feel for his movement style, she was more easily able to avoid him, but he only landed a small number of strikes before making a break for her distraction clone. She grinned. _Time to put the hurt in the dirt,_ she thought, preparing to dispel the jutsu and attack him in his over confidence. _And I if I get it right, I'll be in his blind spot, too,_ she thought, jumping up in the air and he hit her clone, 'forcing' the rest to disappear.

"I told you, it is pointless to fight destiny."

"And I told you, my destiny is what I make it!" With that, 'Naruto' disappeared, giving Neji a split second to react. _There!_

"Agh!" Naruto fell back, landing hard on the ground. "Darn it, I could have sworn in I was in your blind spot!" Neji sent a quick glare to the stands. _Weakling fool, giving out our weaknesses._

"Hmph. You right leg came into view; besides, it the 'blind' spot gets smaller and smaller the closer you get."

"Ugh," She said, getting up shakily. "Guess I should have thought of that."

"Too late now," Neji said, adopting a new stance and charging the girl. "You're within my divination." Naruto's eyes widened. _Craaaaaaaaaap!_ Palm strike after palm strike hit her, shutting down her chakra system and causing intense pain, all the while Neji grinning at his victory. There was no way to stop her lose now. The final strike hit, and Naruto collapsed.

"Naruto, you can no longer stand, thanks to my attack. Does it hurt? It should. Now stay down, and realize your destiny, looser." He turned to the proctor. "This match is over." Naruto grinned.

"I told you, I'm not good at giving up," she said, forcing herself to stand. Neji stared. _Impossible._ "Besides, against someone like you, who belittles everyone around them, I have no forgiveness. I don't care what happened to you," she said as she looked him straight in the eye, "and I don't call it destiny. Main family, branch family, it doesn't matter. For the way you treat others, and the way you've always treated Hinata, I'm gonna win!" Neji's face screwed up in anger.

"Shut up! The main branch killed my father; born second his destiny, and mine, became what it is today, and now I where this cursed seal on forehead, the caged bird, with which I might be killed on a mere whim. Overcome _that!_ Overcome a mark that everyone can see! Just _try_ can figure out how to overcome being marked with something you can't help, and never be able to be rid of it!" To his anger, and surprise, Naruto began laughing heartily.

"A mark? Really? Heheheheh," she wiped the tears from her eyes. "You're not the only person who's special, and you have no _idea_ what I've suffered from my mark. And you know what I have to say?" She stared at him, grinning almost maniacally.

"So what! Stop trying to get the pity play!" She looked at the stands. "Hinata's a member of the main family, and she's been my best friend for years. She's suffered from this just as much as you have. Still she's tried to change, to become stronger, and now that I've fought her, I can tell you myself that she's become stronger than she was. She may even be stronger than you," she said. "After all, I've had an easier time against you than I have her." Neji gave an uncharacteristic snarl of anger and moved in, hitting the girl full in the chest…and causing her to disappear. _What?_ He looked around wildly.

"Told you; I just don't know when to quit," Naruto said, stepping out from behind a tree, holding her side. "I taught myself how to do a clone and substitute in the middle of battle, and your just weren't fast enough to stop me." Neji growled.

"Don't be a fool. Even now I can see your chakra, and I managed a dozen hits before you pulled off that technique. You couldn't do it again, and we both know it." The girl shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe now, but then again, maybe I don't need to worry."

"Phaw, you're useless. You can't even fight in your condition." She grinned.

"Can't I?" She leaned against the tree and brought her hands together. _Alright you ol' fox, rents come due!_ Neji looked on in confusion as Naruto gathered her chakra.

"Why? Why fight your destiny so much?"

"Isn't it obvious," she replied. "Because I was called a looser. HAAAAAAA!"

_Im, impossible!_ Neji stared as the block part of Naruto chakra suddenly flooded open. It was almost like she had a second chakra system to reboot the first, and now it seemed to lay on top of it, much stronger than the original.

"Here I come!" Naruto shot off before Neji could even react, surprising him with her speed as she threw kunai after kunai at him. He was forced to use a new technique, the Hyuuga's heavenly rotation technique. It was supposed to be a technique for the main branch only, but Neji had studied them practicing it on his own as she came to understand it. You had to have a sufficient mastery of the gentle fist, then you could gain enough control to release chakra from several points in your body rather than just one, like most shinobi did. This was the limits of most shinobi's capabilities. A well talented Hyuuga could release chakra from all over their body, stopping an incoming attack and even allowing the Hyuuga to shoot the attack back, all while maintaining a rotation to make full use of the byakugan's sight, and with this ability Neji deflected the blondes attacks and tried to hit her, but she was too fast, and dodged every time.

_I could keep this up, but that could take a while,_ she thought._ Really, I want to end this quickly, but according to pervy-sage, that attack works just as well against short range as long. It would hit back on me…but what if…_ She grinned.

"Hey Neji, you like close combat, right!" She changed her course, heading straight for him. "Well, how's about _this!_" Their attacks exploded in a great cloud.

_Naruto-chan!_ Thought Hinata.

_Naruto!_ Sakura.

_Come on Neji…_ Tenten.

The smoke cleared, revealing both genin in their own small crater, and Neji was already getting up.

"Fool," he said, coughing as he walked over to the girl. "You should have understood your place…what the-" He was unable to complete his sentence at Naruto exploded from the ground, hitting him square in the jaw, leaving him stunned.

"Fool, huh? Well take _that,"_ Naruto said, brushing dirt out of her hair almost carelessly.

"Hmm. Kage bushin. I should have thought you'd use your main technique." Naruto chuckled again.

"As you should well know, I failed the graduation exam three times. You know what made me fail most of the time? The clone technique. Sure, there were other factors too, but I have to face the fact that my clones _suck_. I just can hardly ever do it right, and most of the time." She curled her nose as she continued to inspect her hair. "This is gonna take forever to wash. Oh well. I beat you, and easier than I did Hinata-chan," she said, flinging her hair back. "So quit giving me this crap about destiny. After all, if loosers like Hinata-chan and I can change our destinies, it should be a problem for a guy like you." With that she walked away to cheers of the initially stunned crowd. She took it all in, waving at them all, accepting their praise for her, and for Hinata. _Have to make sure I find her after the exam's over. Hope she doesn't get mad at how bad I beat him up, but I still say he deserved it._

_I knew you couldn't do it, Naruto-chan._

_Heh, told them she's surprise them. Of course,_ Kiba thought, looking next to him, _she's not the only one that can surprise you, I suppose._

_Whew, way to go, Naruto. But where's Sasuke?_

_Naruto...congratulations, my child. I knew you'd do well. I'll have to pass on my thanks to Jiriaya for her training. He did a good job._

_Hmmm…this child is more intriguing than I thought. Perhaps she will become key…_

_…so, she is strong after all. Good. This will make thinsg easier._

"So, she did good, huh?" Temari nodded, smiling broadly.

"Yeah; Naruto did a great job. That was amazing. She may be even better at stragy than me."

"Nah, she isn't."

"But didn't you see-"

"That? That wasn't strategy; it was tactics. Surely you remember the difference Temari."

"Of course!"

"And strategy is much slower; it's planning way ahead, and usually before the battle. What Naruto did? She had no overall plan. It was all one tactic after another, new ideas layered on top of each other so smoothly you might almost have thought it was a strategy. No, our Naruto is a quick thinker, but she's no strategist."

"Hmmm…you may be right…oh, here she is!"

Sure enough, Naruto was walking up the stairs, already being greeted by Kin, who was congratulating her on a job well done. She was still smiling, and true to what she claimed, her body was dirty but didn't seem nearly as worn as when she fought Hinata.

"Hey, Naruto!" Naruto's smile froze.

"Eh? What?"

"We just wanted to congratulate you on the fight. It was brilliant."

"…thanks." Temari stepped away from the railing, towards Naruto.

"Naruto, I know you aren't happy with what we did in the prelims, but please, you said to Anko that you knew you could trust me. I know you're still not happy, and I don't blame you, but please…trust me, like you said you could. We just want you to be happy. Can't you let us be happy for you?" Naruto looked away for a moment.

"Why do you have to make it so hard…"

"Hard? Hard for what?"

"To be angry at you." She turned back to them. "I still think what you guys said is crap, and after this match exam is over I knew exactly who to talk to, the one person alive who can say for sure if you guys are full of crap or not, but…" she held out her hand, "but you're right; I know you believe it, and aren't lying from your view, so I'm fine being friends." Temari smiled and pushed right past the hand, giving Naruto a hug.

"Thank-you," she whispered, crying into her shoulder. "I couldn't have stood it if we left and you still hated us." She pulled back as Naruto tried to deal with the akward situation, Kin watching carefully from behind her. "That was a great job, Naruto. Keep that up and you'll win today." Naruto smiled.

"You know it." She looked around. "Hey, isn't Gaara and Sasuke's match next?" Kankuro grimaced.

"They haven't announced the next match yet, but Sasuke still hasn't shown…"

_Sasuke…_

.

.

.

"Hokage-sama, we can't find Kakashi or Sasuke anyway. Since we still have Orochimaru to worry about, perhaps it would be best if we just disqualify him and get on with the exam. The crowd is getting restless anyway." The hokage sighed. Naruto would _not_ be happy with him. Girls got like that when you disqualified their boyfriends. He still remembered Kushina's wrath.

"Very well, tell them-"

"Excuse, Hokage-san, but I may have an alternate idea. It may be best for all parties if instead…

Sarutobi leaned forward as the Kazekage put forth his idea.

* * *

**In my last update, i said in the closing A/N, "Okay, so that's what happens here. Naruto gets an early update, kind of like you guys. " Now I can tell you that I wasn't referring to that update. I was hinting to _this_ one. Anyway, hope ya'll didn't mind the fight. Although the fight was pretty canon, I wasn't to stress that Naruto had a MUCH easier time here than in the main story. I tried to stress that in the chapter, but I wanted to make it clear _here_, if no where else, that she was stronger. I decided that their own styles for fighting would probably end up with the fight being close to the same, but with the differences I put in. Let me know what you thought. It may change future fights. Of course, the other fights will be TemShika, GarraSasu, ShinoKin, KankuTen, and K/T winner vs Dosu. Several non-canon fights, and Kankuro won't back down this time. Last time he opted out because of the invasion. Well, this time he doesn't approve. Still, two relatively canon fights, and one between the older brother and the boyfriend! Ooooooo... O.O So, let me know what you thought of my execution of this fight.**

**Again, if I haven't asked enough, please review and tell me what you think. Take care till next time!**

**~CaptainFlye**

**ps- and happy birthday again, Hime. 3 :3**


	27. Shadows and Breaks

**Sorry! I know it's been a while. I've been a bit busy, and distracted as well. I CAN say that I managed to retrieve alot of writing for the story I thought I'd lost. It was much to my relief that I found it, because it contained most of the writing for the last 3-5 chapters at least. *WHEW*!**

**Anyway, this IS a short chapter, since I need to get to bed and I have to be productive tomorrow. I had planned on actually doing two fights in this chapter, but you'll only get one, and a little dialouge. Again, i'm sorry, but I wanted to get this out to you later rather than MUCH later (i figure I threw the 'sooner' option out the window at least 2 weeks ago since it's been over a month).**

**Hopefully the short chapter doesn't dissapoint too bad. Let me know what you think.**

**notice-ff style, disclaimer no jutsu!**

* * *

"Since Uchiha Sasuke seems unable to be here at the moment, we will proceed to the next match; Temari and Shikimaru, come on down."

"Ah man, why did _my_ match have to get moved up? This is such a drag!" Temari laughed.

"Oh come on, it'll be fun." She whipped her fan open and started a gust of wind. "Don't keep me waiting little boy! See you soon Naruto-chan," she ended, giving the blonde girl a wink as she hopped on her fan and rode the gust down to the proctor.

"Ah man, maybe I should just forfeit; I have to fight a girl, too…" Before Naruto could say anything, Kankuro stepped up.

"Hey, guys don't keep girls waiting," he said, pressing his palm into the center of the Nara's back. "Best get _going_." With the final word he pushed Shikimaru out into the arena the boy landing on his back with an annoyed look on his face. When Naruto stared at the Suna gennin he shrugged.

"What? I just thought I should encourage him to see what fighting _this_ girl is like. If he's negative about fighting girls in the future it will be because Temari whoops him." Naruto gave a small grin.

"You know, I like the way you think."

"No problem; if Temari had heard him say that she'd forget about going easy on him, though. Of course," he added, looking down, "if he keeps this act up he'll get her temper going and he'll be screwed anyway." Looking down with him Naruto saw that Shikimaru had yet to move from the spot he'd fallen to.

"Hey! Get your butt moving Shikimaru! Why you just laying there? Come on, quit laying there and put up a fight! Are you waiting for lunch or something? Come on, get up off your arse and-"

_Wow…glad it's not me she's mad at_.

_Hmm. Even Naruto thinks he's being silly. Look at him, laying there and letting people throw grabage at him like that. Lazy bum. Well, then, we'll just have to get things started on our own, 'cause this little boy is _really_ starting to tick me off!_

"Alright, if you won't down something, then I will," Temari cried out, charging at the boy and brandishing her fan. Shikimaru finally moved.

"That's right, this girls I spunky one. Man, I hate spunky. Still, guess I better do something," he muttered, pulling out a pair of kunai and throwing them just before Temari's fan hit the ground.

"Hah! Wait, where is he?" As the dust she stirred up with her strike cleared she was able to see he wasn't on the ground anymore, and wary of his shadow techniques she tried to locate him, only to discover him sitting on a pair of kunai embedded into the wall right in front of her.

"You know," he said, "fighting's a real drag, and I don't really care for making chuunin, but i can't loose to a girl so I guess I'm gonna have to actually put in some effort."

"Put some effort into _this_!" Temari swung her fan again, smirking at the closerange attack only to find that the boy had dodged again. "Well, at least you're good at _something_," she called out at the trees. _Good at _running. _Coward. Why can't he give me a _real_ fight?_

The two continued to face off, Temari coming to enjoy the fight more as she saw the boy try harder and actually give her a small fight, even if it was sad to watch. He kept surprising her with that shadow possession of his, throwing it out further each time. She knew if he kept it up he'd have a chance…against a weak opponent. Such tactics would never work on someone with actual skill, like herself. _Well, I suppose I should end it,_ she thought as she dug her fan into the ground to give her some cover while she planned his demise.

_If make a clone to cause a distraction he'll go for it. He'll probably think that I'm setting him up with a classic trick of clone first, real ninja later, and attack the clone, then be too surprised to do anything then the _real_ me attacks him right after. Yeah, that's it_. She put her hands together. _Clone jut-…what?_ From the other side of the arena Shikimaru smirked.

"Success."

"But, what…how? I've taken every precaution; there's no _way_ your shadow should have caught me!" Shimimaru shrugged.

"Guess I better let you see what's behind you," he said, twisting his head so that they were both looking behind themselves, where Temari saw the hole Naruto had made earlier when she fought, and the shadow coming out of it. "You forgot about the hole that Naruto made during her fight, a huge mistake for a shinobi, but we all tend to ignore things like that. Anyway, it was simple to maneuver you to that hole so you'd forget about the danger." Up in the stands Naruto and Kankuro were staring in disbelief.

"He, he actually out smarted her…I've _never_ seen someone outsmart Temari like that."

"I didn't even know you _could_ think like that," Naruto replied, in awe of the maneuver. "I feel kinda dirty, though, 'cause now it's my fault Temari lost, even if it was to Shikimaru." Kankuro scratched his head.

"I don't know. He might have done it anyway." Back in the field Shikimaru was walking Temari and himself to the center of the arena and raise their arms. Temari fought as hard as she could, trying to stop the coming defeat.

"Alright, I give up," Shikimaru said. The arena was quieter than a graveyard before man of the civilian spectators began yelling at the boy for giving up, the shinobi spectators analyzing his choice.

"Wait; why did you give up?" Shikimaru shrugged.

"Well, here I was with another two-hundred moves planned out, but shadow possession takes a lot of chakra and I'm starting to really run low. It'd be two troublesome to take on any more matches after this, anyway. Too much work, especially after using up all that chakra." His shadow receded, though Temari remained standing still in shock, not understanding as Shikimaru rubbed his sore shoulders. "Well, there it is, that's my limit. Ah well; too bad I had to loose to a girl; hope the other guys don't mess up your looks," he said, waving as he walked off.

_He, he actually gave up…because he doesn't think he can win the other matches? Who is this guy? Hey, and what did he mean about my looks!_ Temari ran off after him as the proctor declared her the winner and the hokage gave him a nod to start the next match, once again skipping Sasuke's match.

"Tsuchi Kin and Aburame Shino, come on down, it's your turn."

"Good luck on your match," Shino stated flatly to the girl as he turned and headed down the stairs. Kin shook her head at him.

"Wow he's weird. Doesn't he know how to talk normal?" Naruto shrugged, face curled up in disgust at Shikimaru's surrender.

"Not really, but he still acts really sensitive sometime. I think those bugs mess with his head, personally."

"Nah, I doubt it," Kankuro said. "Unlike my puppets, which anyone with enough talent can learn to do, it looks like a clan thing, and I bet a lot of people think he's too weird to talk with and avoid him." Naruto scratched her chin.

"I guess that makes sense…no one really does seem to like hanging around with him, except maybe Kiba, and Hinata's always nice to him…AHHH! Kin, what are you doing? Get down there for your fight!" Kin blushed. She had forgotten about the fight for a moment as she listened to the two of them talk.

"Ah, sorry, thanks Naruto," she said rushing for the stairs. "Wish me luck!"

"Believe it! After all, what are friends for?" With that Kin disappeared down the stairs. Gaara made a disgusted sound in his throat at the comment, choosing not to speak himself. Naruto would not listen yet, but soon she would see. She would see, when he took care of her boy-toy. Oh yes, then she would see…

Just then Temari and Shikimaru came up, the girl still yelling at him.

"-and just what the heck where you thinking with the jacket balloon?" SHikimaru gave her an annoyed look.

"I already told you, it works like this-"

"Hey, Temari," Kankuro called over, "cut the kid some slack. He was probably right about you being better for the long haul anyway. He's too young to have much chakra reserves." Both teens looked at him in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"Huh? Weren't you yelling at him about how the fight ended up?"

"What? No! I was trying to get him to see how stupid he was being, wasting his chakra like that. A mean, come on, one good clone would have done the same thing!"

"Clones don't cast real shadows," the boy said lazily. "Besides, you would have knocked it out with your wind before it got close enough to do anything."

"Wait…you guys are talking about the _fight_? Not how the fight went?"

"Why would we? That wouldn't do anything; this way we learn better for next time. At least we would if some snot nosed brat wasn't so sure his way was best." Shikimaru shrugged and the two sand siblings and him continued debated for a few moments before the fight began. Naruto, however, was distracted as Dosu came over to her.

"What is Kin to you," he asked quietly, making her jump as he loomed over her.

"Cripes, don't startle a girl like that! I almost kicked you in…well it wouldn't have been fun for you." He ignored her comment.

"You didn't answer my question." Naruto blew her bangs out of her eyes before turning to see Kin and Shino taking their places.

"She's my friend, and actually, I hope she wins this fight. I don't know Shino well enough to cheer for him over her." Dosu nodded slowly.

"Hmmm…I see. And where is the Uchiha, if I might ask? I was thinking we could fight here in the exam." She laughed.

"Ha! As if! If you make it that far, it's ME you'll be facing! I'm gonna beat Sasuke's butt into tomorrow…once he gets her," she grumbled. Dosu's eye twitched.

"Hmmm…"

"You talk even less than he does," she said, shaking her head as she turned to lean over the railing and start yelling her support for her friend as the match began. "Don't know what Haku sees in you." The boy's blush was obvious, even through his bandages, but no one noticed as the fight commenced.

* * *

**Well, that's it for today. Again, I apologize for the short chapter. Shortest I've written in a LONG time. :( Still, after over a month of waiting, ya'll deserve SOMETHING over NOTHING. Hope you don't mind Tenten not being in the scene. That will be explained during the next chapter. I was originally going to let everyone participating in the exam get a small bit of screen time here, but then this short little scene for Tenten came into my mind and it will work better for her to be gone this chapter and show up in the next one, especially since it would add to the writing time here. **

**Anyway, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!**

**ps-reviews are nice. :)**


	28. Coming Back Around

**Okay! Update time MUCH smaller this time. Whew!**

**Make sure you give thanks to himeflye for the fight in this chapter. I figured out how I wanted to do it while talking it over with her. Thanks hime!**

**This chapter, a fight, a talk, and soon a MUCH awaited conversation is hinted at. :) **

**Hope you enjoy the new chapter, even if it IS still a bit of a short one. **

**disclaimer me-I DON'T own Naruto.**

**PLEASE REVEW! (last chapter was the first time in 13 chapters i got less than 10 reviews. Please give me more than 10 again! :3 )**

* * *

Kin was out of breathe when she finished the dash to the door way. She slumped over, panting to catch her breath again.

"Let me know when you are ready," a creepy voice said. Kin jumped, eyes darting around till she saw Shino leaned against the wall in the shadows next to the doorway.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were outside already." A small movement showed the boy shrugging his shoulders.

"Naruto likes to talk, and this delays people. I thought it best if we appear at the same time to avoid negative criticism from the crowds as we waited for you." Kin stared at him.

"You're weird-."

"You should watch what you say; it could hurt people's feelings," the bug user said, head slumping slightly.

"But nice. In a good way, I mean. I wouldn't have thought to wait if it was the other way." She scratched her arm awkwardly. "Thanks." Shino nodded. "Well, I've kept them waiting long enough. Shall we?"

"Yes."

The crowds response was immediate and deafening as the two walked into the arena. While Kin gave a small wave to the crowd Shino was characteristically silent, merely taking his place.

"Yah, go Kin! You can do it!" The girl waved at her friend in the stands while the others looked at her questioningly.

"Naruto…you do know she's fighting a member of _our_ village, right," asked Shikimaru. Naruto shrugged.

"Yeah, so? I know her a lot better than I know Shino, so it makes more sense that I cheer on my friend, doesn't it?" The Nara boy rolled his eyes.

"Whatever."

"Wow…that's actually kinda cool, Naruto." Temari scratched her head. "Not too many people think like that." The short girl shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, it's that whole, 'Naruto trusts people too easy thing.' It's just the way I work," she said, grinning, not taking her eyes off the fight.

"You know, unless you have some way to resist genjutsu, you should forfeit now," Kin warned the other boy. He shrugged.

"If I quit without fighting, then coming here will have been for nothing."

"Heh, good point. But don't say I didn't warn you."

"Fair." The two stood, waiting for the sign. No sooner did the proctor call for them to begin than Kin took out a handful of senbon and send them shooting at Shino, who react by calmly dodging with a side step and lifting an arm, a small swarm of bugs flying out. His only mark of surprise on his next move was to raise an eyebrow as Kin whipped her arm back, the senbon she had just thrown cutting through several of the bugs flying towards her.

"Remember, I know your techniques, but you don't know mine! I've been practicing to get pin-point precision in throwing, and retracting my senbon to get as many insect kills as possible. I hate to do it, but when you fight an opponent, you take out their strength in order to defeat them."

Shino nodded as he gave his swarm the signal to spread out and attack from varied directions. Kin countered by adding another handful of senbon and attack with both hands in short busts, the strings attached to her senbon kept to a small length to increase her attack speed. She turned around with each attack, almost as if she was dancing rather than fighting. Naruto stared in awe, wishing she could move like that and vowing to have Kin teacher her after the exams, before she left to hide from Orochimaru.

Even as fast as Kin's attacks were there were more bugs than she could handle and they closed in on her quickly. As they enveloped her she smirked, throwing several senbon to the side, and disappearing. Shino raised his eyebrows again before turning to look where she had thrown her senbon, his swarm hovering where she had disappeared.

"What next? This isn't a strategy that can last long. The energy you expend is far less than the insects I use as I adjust to your strategy, and there seems little point in that throw of yours." Kin reappeared, smirk still on her face, right where her senbon had fallen.

"You really think I want to play cat and mouse? Hide and seek? I let you think that the senbon string attack was my true plan. Didn't you notice, every now and then, I _actually_ threw some senbon? Where do you think they landed?" Shino looked around him curiously, noting the several senbon now surrounding him.

"Interesting, but how did you get the bells to not make any noise to remain undetected?" She raised her hand holding the strings the senbon were connected to.

"Easy; they did make noise. I use genjutsu, rememeber? I told you that at the beginning. Of course, I had to make sure I could still use these when your bugs came in and I substituted, so I attached their strings to these senbon and went where they landed at the last second, all the time masking their presence and sound with a genjutsu. But now," she said, twitching her hand, "the genjutsu _is_ the sound, and you have lost."

Shino doubled over at the sound began to hit his ears, causing vertigo and nausea.

"Th, that's quite the tr, trick," he panted, holding his head while managing to mostly retain a steady calm voice. "I admit that, that I myself have little defense against, against genjutsu of this nature…but then again, I don't have to."

"What?" Kin barely had time to register what was happening before a second swarm of bugs flew up from the ground around her and latched on, immediately leeching her chakra and shutting her down. "No!" She moved to try and swat them away, but her hands, intertwined with the strings of the senbon, were jerked forward, Shino, still on his knees, holding on to the other ends.

"Sorry, but your greatest attack is also your weakness, and as you have suggested, I have gotten rid of it. Unless that isn't really you laying there, then I believe you've lost." Kin continued to struggle for a moment before allowing herself to admit defeat. She didn't even have enough chakra to make a clone.

"Fine…I give up." The swarm dissipated, disappearing into Shino's sleeves. He stood up and walked over, hands in his pockets.

"I understand it's difficult to get up after my clan's insect attacks. Do you require assistance?" Kin shook her head rolling over and bracing herself as she moved to stand, the proctor declaring the winner and the fighters of the next match, that being Kankuro and Tenten.

"Well, guess it's my turn." He looked around. "Where, where's that girl gone to? You don't think she quit, do you?"

"No, I didn't quit," the voice came.

"Ah, there you are. Where'd you disappear to?" Tenten smiled weakly.

"I went to make sure Neji was okay…and I need to apologize, Naruto."

"Huh?" The blond girl looked at the brunette in surprise. "For what? The only time we've ever really talked is…"

"Exactly, about Neji." Naruto's face darkened.

"That jerk can jump off a building for all I care, I don't have to-"

"He's sorry." Naruto paused mid rant, sure she hadn't heard correctly.

"Excuse me? I _know_ I heard you wrong there." Tenten shook her head.

"No, you didn't. Neji-kun's uncle, Hinata's father, came in while he was recovering. He told him…told him what really happened when his father died. I'm sure Hinata's told you about that before. Well…it's hard to believe, but his father _wanted_ to take her father's place, and Hinata's father wanted to die. He didn't think Neji would believe him, but Neji, because of you, was ready to believe. It's…the first time I've seen a real smile, ever, since I've been his teammate." She bowed. "So, thank-you, Naruto, and I'm sorry for making excuses for his behavior." She remained leaned over for a moment, Naruto looking at her, unsure, until a loud noise from the stadium drew their attention. There, standing near Kin and Shino…were Sasuke and Kakashi.

"Sasuke-kun!" Naruto's face lit up and she jumped onto the railing, barely catching herself before jumping to respond to Tenten. "I'm not saying I forgive him entirely. He has to do right by Hinata-chan first, but he's taking a good step." She flashed her a smile. "Good luck in your match you two." Then she jumped off, speeding towards Sasuke.

.

.

.

"Cutting it a bit close, aren't you Kakashi?"

"Sorry, we were a bit busy. Sasuke isn't, um, disqualified, is he?"

"Hah, no. His match has been delayed to give you two enough time to get here. The last match before his is about to take place."

"Oh, well, in that case, I think-" _THWUMP!_ Both adults turned in surprise at the sound, staring when they saw that Sasuke had been tackled by his blonde teammate. The proctor moved to reprimand her for fighting out of turn when his eyes focused and he began to blush.

"They uh…they get along real well, it seems…" Kakashi giggled.

"Oh yes, they most certainly do," he said, turning away. "Well, I'm going to go up into the stands. Good luck separating them; they haven't seen each other for a month."

Genma sweat dropped as he stared at the two children who were _still_ making out, despite the catcalls and fan girl screams.

"Hey, you two…Naruto, Sasuke…can you stop please? I mean…come on!" Kin rolled her eyes and walked over, yanking Naruto up by the ear.

"Naruto! Time and place girl! We're in the middle of the chuunin exams." Naruto glared at her, rubbing her sore ear as she helped pull Sasuke, goofy grin all over his face, up to a standing position. "Besides, I don't think your boyfriend's fan club likes what it's seeing.

"Oh yeah? Well they can take this," Naruto said, waving a finger at the crowd. Now the girls began to cry.

"Was that really necessary?"

"Heck yeah! It's time everyone knew that Sasuke belongs to _me_ now!"

"Whah? Huh? Oh, yeah, definitely," the boy said, still failing to regain control.

"Oh my gosh, what have you done to him? Come on, let's get him out of here," Kin said, slinging one of his arms around her shoulders. Naruto did the same on the other side, giving Sasuke another kiss on the cheek. He recovered enough to walk up the stairs to the contestant's balcony on his own.

"Well, that was quite the 'hello,' Naruto-chan. Nice to see you too." His girlfriend smiled.

"Yeah, well, it's been a long month. 'Course, I can't really complain. After all, I got to train with a Sanin." Sasuke looked at her in mild surprise.

"Really? They seem to be appearing frequently at the moment, don't they. Hnnn. Which one was it?"

"Pervy-sage."

"…What?"

"What she's saying," interjected Kin, "is that Jiriya of the sanin, her new trainer, is also a world class pervert." Sasuke's eye twitched.

"Say again."

"Pervy sage is exactly what I call him…and he's my god-father," she said quietly. Kin and Sasuke stared at her, eye's wide in surprise.

"He's what? Why didn't you tell me that before?" Naruto winced.

"Oops. I'm not really supposed to tell anyone, but it was important that my boyfriend know." She scratched her arm. "I hope this doesn't make you mad I me. I like being friends with you, Kin." Kin shook her head to ward off the shock before responding.

"Well, I can understand that, so no, I'm not. I get it. Besides, that just means we have another thing in common. We both had sannin as teachers." Naruto snorted.

"Yeah, and they're _both_ weird." She scratched her chin. "Wonder if Tsunade's weird, too?"

"Regardless, the fact that you beat Neji shows that he's teaching you well," Sasuke said. "I'm sorry I missed that fight."

"Ah, that's okay. After all, the big fight is going to be you and me," Naruto said, making Kin roll her eyes.

"Hnn. I suppose. Just don't expect me to go easy on you because we're dating."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," she replied brightly, a flash of startled realization appearing a moment later.

"Kin," she said, grabbing Sasuke's hand and stopping before going up the final flight of stairs. "Kin, can you go on up without me? I need to talk to Sasuke about something private." The older girl raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? More family stuff?"

"No no, not that. It's just…something he said that I need to talk about." At that Sasuke began to sweat despite his attempts to keep his composure.

"Alright, but don't take too long. I'm sure Gaara will come looking for you if you do."

"Got it. Thanks," she called out as Kin walked up the stairs.

"So, uh, Naruto, what did you want to talk about." Naruto slowly turned around, a dangerous look in her eyes.

"Oh? Don't you know?" Sasuke began to sweat more profusely.

"Uuuuummmm….no?" Naruto walked up to the boy and began jabbing his chest with a finger.

"Last time we were together was right after the second exam and you said you would be training with sensei away from the village. You _knew_ I wouldn't be able to do anything about what you said next. Did you really think I'd let you get away with that, Uchiha Sasuke? Did you _really_ think you could just say you love me and then… disappear on me!" Tears welled up in Naruto's eyes as she slapped her teammate and boyfriend.

"What if I never saw you again? What if something happened during that month, eh? You _knew_ about Gaara and everything, and then there was Orochimaru, and you didn't even bother to _wait_ and _listen _for my reply!" Sasuke hung his head.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I was…afraid. I still am."

"Afraid? What about me? You think I'm not afraid!" She grabbed his arms. "I love you, you idiot, and even if I act like it doesn't faze me, Gaara's still scary. Did you know he tried to kill Lee in the hospital? If Shikimaru and me hadn't been dropping by he might have done it! He doesn't like you, and despite everything I've been doing, I _know_ he's going to try and kill you, so why can _you_ be afraid and not _me_?" She cried into his chest as he held her tightly, his mouth by her ear.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I wasn't afraid of that, though. What I was afraid of, was that you wouldn't feel the same way." Naruto looked up at him with her eyes still full of tears.

"What?"

"I was afraid that you wouldn't love me, too. I ran because I didn't want to hear you say you didn't feel the same way. I was born and raised Uchiha. We're a clan of fighters. I know death can come at any time. I've already lost everyone I ever cared about it. Until you, I wasn't afraid of death, either.

"Even so, more than being separated from you, more than loosing you to death, I was afraid it wouldn't matter because you didn't love me back. I was stupid, Naruto-chan, and I'm sorry. Please, forgive me." Naruto put a hand on his cheek, wiping away some of his tears, a smile on her face.

"You idiot. I love you. Of course I forgive you. _This_ time," she added. "Next time you leave me hanging like that," she said dangerously, "next time, you're going to have to REALLY work for it."

"Okay," he whispered. "I can live with that," giving her a quick kiss. He looked up, grunting. "Guess Gaara got tired of waiting for you," he said, motioning to a floating eyeball that was just appearing. "Let's go," he said, taking her free hand as they both wiped away tears.

"Just for a minute. I need to talk to Kakashi sensei real fast before our match."

"Oh? And here I thought you were afraid Gaara was going to kill me?" She jabbed him in his stomach.

"You said sensei was teaching you a technique to deal with him, so I'll trust you guys. I was just being a little emotional," she said.

"Ah, of course," he said as they walked up to the balcony.

"Hey, don't you think it's weird we never saw Kankuro or Tenten while we were coming up?" Sasuke shrugged.

"Guess they didn't use the stairs. Looks like their fight is almost over, though. Guess you should get up to Kakashi sensei fast if you really need to talk to him. What's so important that it can't wait until after the exams?" Naruto looked around, seeing Temari and Kin wave at her as she and Sasuke appeared before turning back to the match, and Gaara scowling.

"Sensei was there when I was born. I need to hear it from him, to settle things with Gaara and them," she said.

"…fine. I'll see you after the match, yeah?"

"Yeah, definitely." She kissed him once more before going to the hallway. "Good luck, Sasuke-kun."

"You too."

* * *

**So, what did you think of Kin's fight? I, personally, was HIGHLY satisfied by it. Against another opponent she might have won, but I've always seen Shino as being one of the stronger members of the rookie 12 with his intelligence and how he uses his insects. Just my opinion**

**Also, ouch, Sasuke's head must really be hurting now. First Naruto bowls him over, then she slaps him. How much damage can one guy take? Oh, wait...now he has to deal with the over protective big brother...guess he's not done being hurt yet, is he? On that note, expect differences from cannon on Gaara and Sasuke's fight. Remember, Naruto is a personal stresser between the two of them now.**

**And don't worry, Tenten vs Kankuro will be shown next chapter. I just wanted to not go as long as last time without giving you guys an update, so i'll have that in the next chapter, as well as Naruto and Kakashi (mwahahaha!) Any guesses on how that will go? Add that in your reviews, if you would. (Hime, NO telling! If you know my secrets you're NOT allowed to talk about them. . )**

**Thanks again for reading. Till next time!**


	29. Kakashi Tells?

**Okay, not too long, but still getting back up to normal chapter length. I had trouble deciding how to do this fight, and wether I wanted to write Tenten vs Kankuro first, or the talk with kakashi first, and even DOING the conversation the way I wanted was hard to do. I've known what I want the result of this conversation to be for a LONG time, but that also made it difficult to do RIGHT. So, after being inspired by my hime I finally got the chapter written over the course of a couple hours last night and this morning to fit my needs. It should be a unique read, as far as chapteres in NotS go. Hope you enjoy it.**

**disclaimer me-I DON'T own Naruto.**

**PLEASE REVEW! **

* * *

"She seems…eager," Tenten said, pointing down at the blonde girl who had just tackled her boyfriend.

"Yeah, she gets like that," Kankuro said. "Heck, we've barely talked with her at all and we all know how lively she is, don't we Gaara?" The red head slowly rolled his head over till it rested on his shoulder as he stared at his brother.

"Shut or I'll kill you." The others in the balconey started at the sharp killing intent. Temari and Kankuro shared a quick glance or sorrow before the older boy spoke again.

"Well, in any case Naruto's leaving the arena so its our turn to get down there, right?" Tenten shook off her shock.

"Right, of course," she said, heading to the stairs.

"Hey! Where you going?"

"This is the way down, isn't it," she said, pointing.

"Well, yeah, but who's coming up?"

"Huh? Oh, I suppose Shino, Kin, Naruto and Sasuke. So?" Kankuro raised an eyebrow.

"So? Tell you what, let's make a bet. You go that way and I'll bet Naruto and Sasuke are the last two up…and you won't find them talking." The girl sweat dropped.

"I see your point," she said, following him to the railing. "Well, good luck. "Let's get this party started!"

.

.

.

Her heart was pounding. This could be the most important moment of her young life, and there he was, only a few yards from her. She concentrated on him, wondering what he would do next, how he would respond. He was her opponent, the last one…

"The last one…"

"Hmmm? Oh, hello Naruto. I thought you'd be with Sasuke in the contestant's box. Good work in beating Neji, by the way. I know you could do it."

"You're the last one, sensei." The copy nin looked at her in confusion as she stood there in an uncharacteristically serious countenance, arms straight down and fists gripped tightly as she looked down.

"What are you talking about, Naruto?"

"You're the last one alive who can tell me the truth, Sensei," she said, raising her eyes, "about who my parents really are."

.

.

.

"Begin!"

Not even a second from the word before Kankuro and Tenten both threw a pair of kunai at each other. The only difference was that Kankuro dodged; Tenten merely deflected the pair of kunai he threw at her.

"Sorry, puppet boy, but that won't work on me. I'm a weapons expert, remember? Close range, mid range, far range, I can do it all."

"Of course," he said. "I know that. What you've foregotten," he said as they exchanged kunai throws again and he grabbed the parcel from his back, "is that my range, is as far or as short as the reach of my puppets!"

.

.

.

Kakashi lowered the book he'd been reading. He had been a little interested in the fight. After all, it was one of Gai's students. This, however, was an unexpected development. He sighed. He should have known that her siblings would push the issue, especially Gaara, after they had had their confrontations.

"Haven't you asked the Hokage? He really should be the one to tell you," he said as she shook her head.

"No, he isn't. He did, but I can't know for sure, not without you, sensei."

"Why is that?"

.

.

.

Tenten smirked. She didn't like playing dirty, but she was a good shot so she was pretty sure she wouldn't have to worry. She quickly threw her kunai and blocked his again, grinning as her kunai found there mark.

"Sorry puppet boy, but that little trick won't work on me like it did that guy during the prelims."

"That's why I didn't use it," he said, picking himself up off the ground and grabbing one of the bindings on his puppet.

"What? But, but you should have substituted with it already!" He shrugged.

"You learn from your opponents. You're smart enough that you wouldn't fall for that trick again, but now, of course, everyone else in this exam will know to attack both me and my puppet so I'll have to do something else. Meantime," he said, pulling the bandages off to release his weapon, "It's time to get this fight started."

.

.

.

"Why is that? How could I have a better answer than hokage-sama?"

"Because," she said, "he wasn't there when I was born…_you_ were."

"Hmmm…I guess hokage-sama told you then," he commented, scratching his chin. "Still don't see what this has to do with me. The hokage wouldn't lie to you, you know."

"Yeah, well, neither would Temari-chan." Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, Temari-chan; the one who believes she's my sister, and I _need _to know if she's right."

.

.

.

_Crap!_ Tenten had to dodge for the first time since the match started as another puppet trick was revealed: Kankuro's tool could shoot dozens of senbon from its mouth!

"Like it? That's one of my favorite features. I should warn you that those senbon are coated in poison. Don't worry, though; for the chuunin exams I switched my usual poison out for some of the non-lethal stuff. Still, a single nick and you'll be paralyzed for the next half hour." Tenten grumbled.

"Poison, he says. Bah, that's not a real weapon but whatever. We're shinobi after all, and I have the perfect weapon to counter _that_." She opened a scroll and a large wind shuriken was revealed. It seemed standard, except that there was a handle in the middle where the hole usually was. "Now, just try that again!" Kankuro shrugged and motioned with his fingers.

"As you wish," he said, firing a barrage of senbon. Tenten grinned, gripping one of the blades on her shuriken and giving it a great twist to send it spinning, holding it in-front of her. To Kankuro's surprise she blocked every single needle sent her way.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm a weapons master, so I have a counter to every kind of weapons attack. You'll have to send that thing in close to take care of me, and I've got weapons that will smash that thing to bits ready for use, too!" Kankuro sighed.

"Man, she's good at this. I'm not sure any of the jounin, even, back in sand village, know as much about weapons as she claims to. Well, nothing for it, I guess. Guess I better keep her distracted till I come up with a better plan," he said, raising his hands again as Tenten grinned, kunai in hand.

.

.

.

"Naruto, back up; what do you mean Temari wouldn't lie to you?" Naruto glared.

"Sensei, people tell me that I trust to easy all the time. Well, there's a couple reasons for that, but one of them is that, sometimes, I can just _tell_ that I should trust someone; I can _tell_ that they're being honest. In the same way that anyone could tell that that snake Orochimaru is evil, I can tell when someone is good, but only sometimes. Haku-chan was one of them, and so is pervy sage and jii-san." He glared at him. "But _you_, sensei, you've been hiding something from me the moment we met, and I want to know what it is!" Kakashi sighed.

"Naruto, you still didn't…wait…who's 'pervy sage?" Naruto's face softened from surprise and embarrassment.

"Oh, that's right, you were way. Well, I didn't train with Ebisu; I got trained by Jiriaya of the sannin." Kakashi's eye widened.

"Jiriaya? Wow…now_ that_ is a surprise."

"No more than you're being trained by my dad."

"… Ah…"

.

.

.

For several minutes it was an exchange of senbon and kunai between the two, Tenten blocking and Kankuro dodging, neither one gaining an advantage.

_This is taking too long_, Tenten thought. _I need to find a way to make this end! But he dodges everything I throw and then counter attacks, and his puppet will guard him from anything he can't dodge. I'm just lucky he hasn't tried to get around me and attack from two sides…That's it!_ Moving quickly Tenten knelt down, pulling out a staff and attaching it to the shuriken while she quickly worked.

_What is she doing there? I can see another scroll and a couple kunai, but with that shukiren going like that it's to see… Still, I've almost got her…what?_ Kankuro's eyes widened as Tenten threw another kunai, but this one was going well past him…and it was attached to one of the girl's scrolls with ninja wire.

_Not good_, he thought right before his eyes caught a second kunai, also attached to the scroll, turning it into a triangle with himself seeming to be the focal point. _Aw crap…Maybe my new plan should be run like heck!_

.

.

.

"…Ah."

"Ah? That's all you can say." Kakashi scratched his head.

"Well, Sasuke told me about what they told you. I wasn't sure you were actually taking it seriously."

"I told you why."

"Yes, of course. Still seems to me you already know who your parents are, so why talk to me?"

"I know who jii-san _said_ my parents are, and that I really look a lot like your sensei, my dad. But," she said, "Temari and them, they say they saw things, from when I was born, that they saw their mother, and they think it was here. They said she was running away, hiding. The fourth hokage, he was a great man," she said. "That's what everyone says, and I believe it's true. That's why he's always been my hero," she proclaimed, eyes moist as she continued. "If she was running, and there dad was as bad as they say, he would have hid her, and not told anyone. But sensei, jii-san said _you_ were there when I was born. _You know!_ _Only_ you know. Everyone else is dead, jii-san said." She clenched her fists harder than ever to keep the tears back as she went on.

"All my life, sensei, all my life I've been treated like trash because of this stupid thing that's in me, and I've never been sure who I was because of that. I've never known who my real parents were, or why they died. This answer is more to me than just knowing who my parents are; I need to know who _I_ am! Please! Stop dancing around and _tell_ me!"

Kakashi looked on at the young girl for a few moments, the fighting continuing in the arena. It would be over soon, he thought, and then it would be Gaara and Sasuke, then the winner against Naruto. But was she ready to hear the full story? Was she ready to know the truth and comprehend the miraculous circumstances surrounding her birth? He sighed.

.

.

.

Kankuro's eye's moved swiftly, trying to find a weak point in the weapon users attack. He hadn't actually seen her attack like this before since she gave her opponent to surrender in the prelims, but she had explained her attack quite well.

"Just in case you're looking for a way out, I control the weapon release. I could send them all out at once, or one at a time," the girl called out. "Otherwise, in a situation like this, there'd be too much cross fire and my own weapons would get in the way of each other."

_Ah, so that's out. Still if she has to release them like that, then that means there might be just enough of a delay…_ He firmed up his stance and positioned his puppet.

"Alright, let's see how this goes. After all, I'm not going to go down without a fight!" Tenten knitted her eyebrow as she prepared to release her weapons in response to his next movement.

"Alright, but remember, this was your choice."

"Understood," he said, and he moved.

.

.

.

"Alright, let's move up to the walkway. We don't need anyone to over here. After all, it'll be easier to tell this story with names," he told her, and wasted no time continuing her interrogation when they reached the walkway.

"Well, sensei? There must be something or else you wouldn't be pulling me back here; you'd just say yes or no." Kakashi eye smiled.

"You really are cleverer than you let on, Naruto. Yes, there is some truth involved in what you've been told, by both parties, and I _am_ the only person alive who was present at your birth…and at the birth of Karura's child." Naruto blinked.

"Who?"

"Well, I suppose you could say that this story begins with me. Back when I was a young jounin, before the nine tails attacked Konoha, I was on a mission on the borders of fire country, and I met a woman, fleeing sand country, and she was very pregnant…"

.

.

.

Kankuro ran straight at the one-thirds point of Tenten's scroll, not too far from where she was, and the girl began to release her weapons, calculated when they would reach him to determine which ones she let go of first. He wasn't as fast as Lee, or possessed the skills of a Hyuuga like Neji did. It should be too hard… Tenten groaned. _That jerk…how could I forget about those stupid needles! Well, we'll just adjust…_

Kankuro had begun firing senbon from his puppet again, shooting them out at his exposed side. He could repair his puppet later, he'd decided, and the wood was pretty sturdy anyway so the damage wouldn't be _too_ bad. Still, the timing would need to be perfect, even if the whole thing only lasted a few seconds. He adjusted his course slightly as the rate of fire was altered, preparing a hand sign.

Tenten realized quickly how tough the puppet was and focused her chakra, increasing the velocity of her missiles. She had to hit him quickly, or at least separate him from his puppet long enough to get a throw in…_there!_ The puppet had run out of senbon. Everything had it's limit, and both of them were reaching theirs, so this was it. She flared her chakra into the scroll, firing everything she had left at the exposed boy, impaling him from every direction…only for the puppet to keep running forward. The problem was, that puppet looked a lot more like Kankuro than it had a mere second ago, and vice versa, and he had his hand extended towards her, and it looked like he was pulling something…

_What is he…!_

.

.

.

"Of course sensei took her in. That was how he was, but in the end she had kept one thing a secret…she would not live through her labor."

"What? Why didn't she tell him? What happened to her child? Was she just going to abandon it? … abandon…me?"

"Now Naruto," Kakashi said, resting a hand on her shoulder, "don't go jumping to conclusions. She knew that Minato sensei would take care of her child, but even though both Kushina-san and Karura-san were pregnant, only one of their children lived past child birth, and though there is more to the story, I can tell you know that it _wasn't_ the child of the kazekage." Naruto looked at her sensei for a moment with wide eyes as she took in what she'd heard.

"So…even with all that…even though she ran…her child still…"

"Naruto, she got what she wanted in the end, trust me. Her child was safe from her husband." Naruto nodded.

"So I, I really am…the daughter of the…"

"…Yes, Minato-sensei, the yondaime, was your true father." Naruto's grin split wide across her face.

"So that's who I am…but then why did they seem convinced? Temari and them, why are they so sure were siblings?" Kakashi pondered his response for a moment. Was she really ready for the whole story? Could she handle the final truth?

"Naruto…"

.

.

.

Tenten's eye's widened as Kankuro spread his hand towards her and pulled.

_What is he…ah!_ From behind her she felt the cold steel of four kunai pressing against her skin before she could react. There were two in the cloth above her shoulders, and to more on either side of her ribcage. She began to move, but was surprised when, once again, Kankuro made a motion with his hand, bringing it up quickly, and then slamming it down, and she felt the kunai to the same, pinning her to the ground. She never had time to react as she found herself pinned by the weapons, and temporarily stunned by the hard blow to the ground. Before her head stopped swimming, she felt another bit of cold steel pressing against her neck.

"Sorry, but this fight is over. I have enough poison on the tip of this senbon to end it, but I'd rather you got to see the rest of the exam rather than have to wait and recover from it." Tenten grunted as she tried to get up, but he was resting his shins on her elbows. He was right; she was beaten.

"Fine…I surrender." As Genma announced her surrend and Kankuro's win he got up and offered her a hand.

"That was quite the fight," he told her. "I don't think I've ever met anyone as impressive as you when it comes to weapons."

"Yeah, well, I really like them. Next time, though, I'll have to do something different." Kankuro grinned.

"Not if I have anything to say about it. I don't _want_ a next time!" She chuckled and the two of them began to collect her weapons again while the next match, Sasuke vs Gaara, was announced.

.

.

.

"Naruto, sometimes thing are not what they seem to be. Remember one of my first lessons to you three?"

"Umm…..teamwork, right?" Kakashi sweat dropped.

"Well, yes, that's important too, but I was talking about something for individual shinobi…"

"Ah! Taijutsu!"

"No."

"Oh, then it must be nin-genjutsu!"

"…no."

"Aha! The last lesson was ninjutsu then, right!" He sweat dropped again.

"Ah, no, Naruto, I meant when you were hanging from the tree, what I said then."

"Hanging from the tree…hanging from the tree…" Her face got read. "Perv…if I hadn't been wearing my shorts, Sasuke-kun would have seen-"

"Naruto! I wouldn't have done that if there was that kind of danger!" He rubbed his face with his hand.

"No, I mean the lesson I said about deception. A shinobi must see beneath the beneath. Remember?"

"Ah, that's right! Like looking between the noodles!"

"…I think you mean reading between the lines…"

"No, that's what Anko-chan said _that_ was like. She explained it with noodles."

"…of course." He took a deep breath. "Still, the point it, there is always more going on than we realize sometimes, and other times…people may not see what they think they see…"

"Sasuke vs Gaara will now begin!" Both of them snapped back to attention at those words.

"Here we go," Kakashi said under his breath. "I hope you don't mind if we finish this later, Naruto," he said, "but I think this is a match neither of us want to miss." Naruto nodded.

"No kidding…I think I've got my answer, though. I just need to know why Temari and them think what they do now."

"…right."

_I'm sorry…Karura-san…I just don't know if she's ready yet._

Meanwhile, done in the combatant's box, the two up coming contenders stared at each other.

"Uchiha."

"Hn." Gaara turned away and began to walk down the stairs.

"Hey, Sasuke…" The dark haired boy turned to look at Gaara's sister.

"Hn?"

"Be careful. Gaara may think he can get away with things Naruto wouldn't like because it's in the exam and…and I don't think any of us want to see her cry if she does," she said, motioning to Kin who was leaning on the railing, shoulders tense. He smirked.

"Don't worry; I've been training _real_ hard for _this_ fight," he said, and with that he jimped up on the railing and hopped into the arena below, not wanting to bare the other boy's presence in the stair well and hallway.

_Sasuke…you don't know what you've gotten yourself into_, she thought, nervously biting her lip. _Still, it's almost time, and we'll do everything we can to make sure it'll be alright!_

* * *

**Mwahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Didn't I keep telling you guys that that conversation wasn't going to go like you thought! DIDN'T I! MWHAAHAHAHA!**

**Okay, sorry, I'm calm now. *ahem***

**Anyway, yes, this is REALLY what he tells her, and this is it. Naruto still needs to find out the whole truth, but it isn't going to be from Kakashi. It'll be someone else. I've given the challenge to a coupld people to try and guess who and how with the reward of getting a write in character before the end of the story, or a request for an occurance. I'll leave that up as a general challenge with ONE chance, though we are very close to the end of the story now. You've only got a couple chapters to guess before I end the challenge (i think about still to go before the story ends, though) Good luck everyoen!**

**Oh, and how did you like how I did this chapter? Too confusing, or did it flow okay? How was the fight in general?**


	30. Sand's Strength vs Lightning's Speed

**Well, i managed to get this down as a reward for a very hard working hime. :3 Good luck on your next test sweety!**

**Anyway, we left off right before Sasuke vs Gaara. I think you'll find the differences in the fight interesting. Relatively similar to cannon, but significantly different, particularly due to the dialouge differences present as they fight for more than just to fight. Remember, as boyfriend and brother to Naruto, they are NOT getting along. Tell me what you think of the fight, please.**

**disclaimer me-I DON'T own Naruto.**

**PLEASE REVEW! **

* * *

Gaara frowned at the sight before him. These two fools had hoped to kill him, so he had returned the favor, and yet his lust for blood was not even close to sated. Why was that? Ah, of course…he was about to face the meddling Uchiha, the one who was trying to manipulate the foolish girl. He grinned in anticipation. This was going to be a good fight.

"Now, my little Uchiha," he said, his voice low and gravely, "now I will have the chance to do with you as I wish…and soon you're life will end!"

He stepped out in the waiting arena, the crazed look still on his face, fazing Sasuke for a short moment as he thought on his training.

.

.

.

"Alright Sasuke, once more; let's see if you can do it." Sasuke nodded, holding his arm straight as he gripped it with his left hand. He concentrated the chakra, focusing his lightening nature to his right hand. It sparked several times before fizzling out.

"Hmmm, I see. Looks like your limit, for now, is two. Listen to me now: I don't want you to _ever_ go over that limit with talking to me first. If you do, there's no telling how much damage you might do to yourself." Sasuke grinned.

"Heh, like I'd risk that."

"…for Naruto, I think you would." Sasuke's eye twitched. "Oh? Still not used to me knowing? I've known for a while now." Now the boy was surprised.

"What? How?" His sensei looked at him in disappointment.

"Really now Sasuke, I'm a jounin for a reason." He rolled his neck to loosen the kinks from their morning training. "I can tell you that your mother would be happy, though." He winced as Sasuke's mood darkened. "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought her up."

"…no…it's okay. But sensei," he said, looking up, "what makes you say that?"

"Am I right or wrong in thinking that I often saw your mother leaving things near Naruto's place for her to wear? Or that she often told you to be friends with her?"

"How-"

"I was in the Anbu Black Ops, Sasuke. I know more about the people in this village than almost anyone, and Nauto was always someone we looked out for, under the hokage's orders." He shrugged. "That, and…well, that's a story for another time. Meanwhile, how about you come out now, Gaara." Sasuke started, shifting to a battle stance as Gaara walked out from behind a rock, glaring darkly at the other boy. "So, what did you want, Gaara?"

"…my sister goes with me." Sasuke began to charge the other boy only to be stopped by Kakashi's hand on his shoulder.

"Eh, Sasuke, don't worry. You're going to get your chance," he said soothingly while directing his attention back to the boy from Suna. "Now Gaara, I believe that Naruto has stated clearly that she does not _want_ to go with you, has she not?"

"It matters not. She is naive, not realizing you are all using her, even that boy's mother. She doesn't know what is best, and she is coming with me."

"Like heck she is! I'll never let you take Naruto-chan!" Gaara slowly tipped his head sideways.

"…it's too bad Naruto has not allowed me to fight you yet. You are strong, and mother is looking forward to our match…" Kakashi quirked an eyebrow at this, wondering what had caused the boys unstable personality.

"Well then, that's that. How about we all start preparing for the match, and you leave it to us." Gaara's eyes narrowed.

"…fine, but Naruto will be there, too, or I kill you both."

_Hmmm? He's having trouble finding Naruto is he,_ Kakashi thought. _Well, that can only be a good thing. I don't really want to dwell on this much anyway. _He turned back to Sasuke.

"I hope that gives you sufficient motivation to train," he said, pausing as he saw small sparks shooting from Sasuke's clenched hand.

"Don't worry Sensei," he said, raising his clenched fist before his face. "With this first, I will protect Naruto-chan…and defeat Gaara. This is a promise surpassing even my promise of revenge, so there is no way I can fail." The copy-nin looked at the boy in surprise.

_Wow…he really cares…_ The man grinned.

"Very well, we just up-ed our training scheduale…"

Sasuke clenched his fist again. _That's right; no matter what he pulls out now, I _cannot_ lose, for Naruto._

The proctor looked back and forth between the two boys as they took their positions, the crowd falling into a grace silence as the most anticipated match inched closer to starting.

"…Naruto-"

"Go to heck." Gaara grinned.

"Begin!"

As fast he the jounin jumped out of the way Sasuke leapt at his opponent with such speed that even those who knew him best were surprised.

"Ah! Kakashi-sensei, when did Sasuke get as fast as Lee?" Kakashi eye-smiled, Naruto and himself having rejoined the group after Naruto's interrogation.

"Yes Kakashi, how did your student so quickly copy Lee's moves?" The whole group turned in surprise at the new voice before Kakashi could answer.

"Bushy-brow! When did you get out? How are you doing? Feeling any better?" Lee gave Naruto a thumbs.

"I am still recovering, but rest assured, soon I will be back to fighting even stronger than I was before. You have defeated Neji before I got the chance but I will only let this spur me on to a quicker recovery."

"Atta-way bushy brow," Naruto said, clapping him on the back as Sakura softly smiled at the wince that Lee tried to cover up.

"Anyway, as to Sasuke's Taijutsu," Kakashi informed them, "I had him train just in the that taijutsu the whole month."

"What?"

The evidences of that labor were easy to see as Sasuke quickly matched the speed that Lee had displayed before, though it may have been even faster as he landing small hits across Gaara' sand armor, creating small cracks here and there.

_I need to crack that armor fast,_ Sasuke thought. _I know he needs a lot of chakra to keep it up, so the more faster I can make it break completely is the more chakra he doesn't have to fight back…and this is tiring._ Sasuke jumped back a few feet to catch his breath as he wiped off a small sheen of sweat from his forehead.

"You…I won't let you do this," Gaara growled as sand flaked off his body. "I'm taking her home!" Sasuke snorted.

"Right. 'Cause she'd really go with you. No, Naruto's home is here, and with me, as long as she'll have me, and I'm _never_ going to let you take her."

"Ahhhhh!" Gaara shot an arm out, his sand aiming at the Uchiha who quickly dodged, jumping to the side and charging his new attack as he ran.

_It might take a lot out of me, but if this hits then not only will it take out his armor, it will also put him out of commission, and I can't have this fight lasting longer than it needs to._

_Die…die….Die….DIE!_ Gaara kept his sand following the one who would use his sister and cast her aside, the one who dared to challenge him and act as if he wasn't planning something. This would not do; he would die, no matter what Naruto said; he never slept as it was, and it wouldn't be hard to keep her away from weapons until she came around, and mother screamed for his blood.

.

.

.

"When, when did Sasuke-kun get this fast?" Ino stared at her in surprise.

"What kind of question is that? You're his g-g-girlfriend," she managed to spit out, "and you don't know how awesome Sasuke-kun in?" Naruto rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"I know better than you do, Ino. Sasuke's good, but he's not the end-all-and-be-all of shinobi. We've _all_ still got a lot to learn. Sure, he's really talented, but that doesn't mean he's invincible."

"Well said, Naruto. As a matter of fact, if Naruto wasn't in the picture, Sasuke would be about 15% slower than he is currently going."

"15%!" Gai stared at his 'eternal rival' in shock. "Kakashi, surely you've been pushing that boy too hard. Not even…" his eyes darted to his student who was clutching his crutch tightly as he watched the match. "To improve that much is impossible."

"Not," stated Kakashi, "if you have someone to fight for." Naruto blushed.

_He improved this much…for me?_

"Sensei…will he be okay?"

"Of course. I have full confidence in Sasuke's abilities, especially since, due to use being the same chakra nature, I was able to teach him one of my original techniques."

"What?" Just look; he's getting ready to use it already. He's just been building up his speed for maximum penetration."

Eyes back on the fight they were able to see the chakra gathering in the boy's hand as he made a sudden shift and shot straight towards his red haired opponent.

"Now stay away from Naruto!" Gaara barely had time to blink before Sasuke shoved the lightening chakra he'd gathered at his shoulder.

"Gaara!" Temari's shriek rang out over even the gasps of the crowd and Kankuro's knuckles went white as he gripped the railing like a vice. Yes, he understood why Sasuke was fighting so hard, but this was his brother! He struggled to try and keep his anger in check.

"Kankuro-kun, please, ease up." He shot a dark look at the girl next to him.

"Why," he growled through gritted teeth. "Didn't you see what he just did to my brother?"

"Of course I see what he _tried_ to do, but look over there." Kankuro and Temari followed Kin's pointing finger to another spot on the field where a small pillar of sand was raising itself from the ground.

"He…substituted? When? And how come Sasuke's sharingan didn't catch it?"

"Kankuro should know, Temari-san. After all, his works with puppets should have had the same effects."

"Kankuro?" The boy rubbed his fingers together as Sasuke extricated his hand from the crumbling sand clone, a look of disgust on his face for his failed attack.

"Gaara himself may not be very quick, but because he uses his hands for all the attacks he does, like a puppet user does, his hands are fast, and can react even quicker than the rest of his body. When Sasuke charged him at such a high speed, he substituted without even thinking."

"Gaara…"

.

.

.

"Wait, but I thought Sasuke hit him! Didn't you see how fast he went? How did he have enough time to react?" This time it was Gai that answered.

"In the same way that you react to a punch by blocking, Gaara must have had some sort of instinct to substitute when charged head on by such an unbelievable speed. Where he got that instinct from I don't know, because he holds himself like someone who doesn't give in or run away. But the abilities that he has…" Gai scratched his chin, shoot a glance at Naruto. _Could it be that this child suffers the same burden as out Naruto? That would explain both his unnatural defense _and_ his uncharacteristic excape._ He shrugged.

"No matter the case, he has dodged the attack, and Sasuke lost more energy than he did. The playing field may be about to level."

"Hmph, no way. Sasuke's not going to give up, either," Naruto declared, arms crossed.

"But Naruto, can't you see how tired he is?" Naruto smirked widely as she spoke to her teammate.

"Sakura, how often has Sasuke gone for such an extreme attack? If you think about it, you'll know why he did it, and you'll know that for that reason, he won't give up till he wins, no matter how hard Gaara pushes back, believe it!" Sakura looked at her friend in surprise as she considered, realizing that Naruto was right. She had barely caught it over the cheers from the crowd when Sasuke attacked, but it was clear: he was fighting for Naruto's right to choose where she lived, for her to stay in Konoha. She clutched her arms, wishing she had someone that would fight for her like that.

_Still_, she thought_, I think I would fight like that for Naruto also. She's a friend worth fighting for._

.

.

.

Gaara laughed as he rose from the ground, his opponent turning to meet his gaze. He was so happy! He'd never felt so…_alive_ as he did right now, the blood pumping through his veins, the adrenaline rushing through him like a water fall.

"Uchiha! You really are a great opponent, but this is the end of the line; I'm going all out now, and then, you'll die!" Laughing he brought his hands together, forming a sphere around himself. With his Sharingan activated, Sasuke could see him gathering his chakra from deep within himself. _Hmmm…just like Naruto…if that's the case, I need to end this…now!_ He rushed to the opposite end of the arena, running up the wall and gathering his chakra into his hand once again.

_That sphere of his will be powerful, but it's made of sand, an earth element. My chidori is lightening element, which means it will be strong against his defense, able to penetrate it. I've got one shot, and I need to hit him just right to knock him out without killing him. It'll be harder with him inside,_ he thought, looking down from the top of the wall, _but I have to succeed, for Naruto._

"Chidori!" He screamed as he ran down the wall, gaining speed all along the way, becoming a blur even to some jounin. On a few where able to follow him as sand and dirt from the arena flew into the air in his wake, ending at the ball that protected the other boy. Silence hung over the coliseum as the spectators held their breath, Sasuke poised with his hand stickin straight through his opponents shield, and all of this was broken with an ear piercing shriek.

_"My blooooooooooooood!"_

* * *

**Also, in response to Kakashi not telling Naruto in the last chapter, I've realized that, while in my head it has been obvious, I haven't really written it such that you all can tell, but a large part of the reason that Kakahsi hasn't told Naruto the whole truth is because HE is not yet ready to fully speak it. Any of you that have had a bad experiance can attest that, even if you can think about it, it's much harder to talk about it, so you don't even talk at all some times. Kakashi has had to live with this secret for a long time, but he hasn't had to talk about it. in fact, it was better that he not talk about it because of the secrets invovled in the second(?) most traumatic time of his life. However, he will be able to face it by the end of the story, and him and Naruto will be able to talk about it again.**

**Hope ya'll enjoyed the new chapter. Invasion is next, and this is where the lines will be drawn for several characters. Where will they stand when the time comes to fight? Who will choose their friends over their family or village? Come back next time to find out!**

**ps- on the challenge, through reviews and PM's, there was one person who correctly guessed the person that would reveal Naruto's history to her (darn it!), but the challenge was to also guess HOW they would do this. Just another reminder that you need to send me the rest of your guess in order to claim or prize (you know who you are)**

**Take care till next time my friends!**


	31. Drawing the Line

**Alright, the invasion is underway, and people are picking sides who may have been on the side lines. That, and Naruto has to deal with the idea that several people she considered friends are now attacking her village. Not pretty, is it? You gotta feel for her here. :( Let's see how this all goes down!**

**Fun Facts for NotS**

**to this date, NotS...**

**has 246 faves,**

**263 alerts,**

**182,483 words (including the authors notes we'll round down to 175k)**

**294 reviews (which I must comment on is BARELY more than the total number of people who have faves or alerted this story)**

**and is a part of 17 communities. (wow...)**

**thanks for all your support. :D**

**disclaimer me-I DON'T own Naruto.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! **

* * *

_"My blooooooooooooood!"_

The blood curdling scream made Naruto want to cover her ears to block it out. Nothing had chilled her to the bone like this before. Even so, by the time the scream faded to an echo in the air she was already hurtling down the stairs back to the contestants box.

_Crap,_ she thought, _ I hope they don't think Sasuke-kun went to far; they have to know he's only doing this to protect me! _

Back in the box, Temari was gripping the railing so hard her knuckles had turned white, spewing killing intent so strong even Shino had to supress a shiver running up his spine.

"How _dare_ he," she growled through gritted teeth.

"Hey, calm down," Kankuro said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "He'll be okay; Sasuke's not trying to kill him, just getting a point across." The baleful look his sister shot back at him was enough to make lesser shinobi pee themselves.

"Do you have any idea what he's just done? Gaara's _never_ been hurt," she reminded him. "_Never_."

"Yeah, but he's never tried to kidnap someones girlfriend and claim her as his sister before, either. Things are a bit crazy, sis." He looked out to the battlefield where Sasuke had retreated several yards away from Gaara's collapsing sand sphere. "I'm just saying I understand. I ticked off, too, and worried about what this will do to Gaara, but," he said, lowering his voice, "we can punch his lights out later. Right now, things about to go to heck, so we need to keep our cool." The oldest sand sibling pursed her lips before heaving a sigh.

"...fine, but when this is over-ah crap." There was a slapping sound a nearby bodies began to hit the floor in the seats above them while feathers floated on the breeze. All around the evidence of the new genjutsu was showing even as the fellow occupants of the combatants box worked to shake it off. Temari cast her eyes about before turning to ask her brother another question.

"Where's Naruto?"

.

.

.

There was a slapping sound as the man hit the floor, unexpectedly released from the bonds holding him. He groaned as his stiffened muscles declined to respond, freezing as he felt someone stoop next to him.

"Wasn't ready, huh? I told Temari to tell you you were being released today." The man on the floor turned his head to see Baki, the leader of Suna's gennin team, standing over him. "Well, I suppose you'll need a little help," he continued, hooking his arms around Hayate's and pulling him up before slinging the weak man's arm over his own shoulders."

*coucgh*

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because you look like you need help easing back into moving."

"No, I mean, letting me go." Baki sighed.

"THe answer to that, would be that girl, Naruto." Hayate coughed in surprise. "Yes, odd, isn't it? But she had an effect on my genin, and now, well, they want her to be happy."

"So...you chose the Leaf over Sand?" Baki grimaced as he supported the leaf jounin up the stairs.

"Not really. I already know we will lose in this invasion, even if we had managed to defeat your forces today. We would be too decimated and unable to take advantage. The future of my village is your village. The way my genin feel about Naruto has assured that. This is her home, where she is happy, and so they will make sure that it is preserved." He helped the other man to sit at the table where food had been prepared, as Temari had told him. Looking around Hayate saw several maps laying on other surfaces. He coughed again.

"Here, water." Hayate accepted it gratefully, taking a long drink before setting the glass down.

"The invasion has started?"

"Yes."

"But you are not fighting?"

"...No."

"Why?" Baki turned his face away.

"I cannot turn against my village, and to be out there, fighting, would end me labeled as a traitor, even if I were only to battle Sound-nin."

"And yet you release me to help fight your people." Baki turned to face him agian.

"No; to fight_ sound_ I have released you." He gestured to the maps. "I have here several of the locations and plans of attack of the sound-nin to be used at your disposal. None of it can be traced to me, and you are likely too weak to fight on your own regardless." He lifted a scroll from off the table. "When you are done eating, I will activate this scroll, which will wrap me in chains, making it appear as though I was careless and snuck up on."

"Still, by releasing me you must know I will be fighting, and killing, Sand-nin as well as sound." Baki breathed deeply.

"Is it not every shinobi's right to protect his home? You will kill my comrades, but many more will survive today, and in the future, from the actions I have taken, though it tears my heart to do so." Hayate nodded.

*cough*

"Thank-you," he said, standing. "I will do my best to preserve the lives of your comrades."

"...thank-you."

.

.

.

"Where'sw Naruto?"

"Here," came a flustered voice. Turning they saw Haku, Naruto's friend, holding the sleeping girl in her arms.

"Is she alright? WHat happened?" Kin answered.

"Naruto has _no_ talent for genjutsu. Haku must have put off the genjutsu for herself before catching Naruto, who it looks like was coming down the stairs." Temari nodded before glancing back out to the field.

"Good; Kankuro? We need to get Gaara out of here, now. He's weak from Sasuke's attack, and with all this fighting, he might release it still."

"Right, I'll be right behind you," he said she she jumped down to their brother. He turned to face the other gennin. "What ever happens, know we did our best to stop it. Tell Naruto we're sorry...and Kin? It's time to chose," he said, joining his gensister.

"Come on, Gaara, let's get out of here!"

"Ugh...fine..."

"Kai!" Kin and Haku huddled over Naruto who slowly woke up, rubbing her eyes.

"Whah? What happened?" She blinked. "Haku-chan? What are you doing here?"

"Pft, you should should have realized I've been shadowing you ever since you got back to the village. I have to make sure your okay, and it's a good thing I did, too, otherwise you would have fallen down those stairs and gotten hurt!"

"What? I still don't get it. Why did I fall asleep on the stairs?"

"What a drag...it's because someone's cast a genjutsu, Naruto."

"What? Why? Is someone cheating? Wait...where are Temari and Kankuro?"

"They left with Gaara a moment ago," Shino spoke up, standing by the railing. "They seemed in a hurry to remove him from the fighting."

"Woah, they must be even more ticked at Sasuke than I thought." Tenten shook her head.

"No, Naruto, the exam is over. You need to see this." The older girl gestured out to the rest of the coliseum. Naruto rose slowly, almost afraid of what she would see. As she cast her eyes about, she wished she'd never looked, sadly turning her gaze towards Kin.

"Kin...they're Sound village."

"...I know."

"THen why? Why are you doing this? WHy didn't you tell us? I thought you were my friend!" Kin clutched her head.

"I don't, I can't, I didn't know! I didn't know this was going to happen!" She sobbed. "He, he never told us about this, I swear it Naruto!" Naruto nodded, still looking out on the scene.

"Alright, so, what are you going to do? We both know I can't fight you like that, but I'm not gonna stand by and let everyone else who's precious to me die." Kin looked at her friend in shock.

"I'm...precious to you?" Naruto nodded.

"Of course; Like I said, you're my friend and I would die for you, Kin, but if you want to support those who want to kill my other friends, then how can we still call each other 'friend'?" Kin looked back out where everyone else was finding, Kankuro's words returning to her like a sledgehammer:_There's a bond stronger than any loyalty to your village, and that's the one to your friends._

"It's not fair," she cried. "Orochimaru was supposed to be good! He took us in when no one else did, and he made us strong! Why did he have to do this?" Naruto put a hand on her shoudler.

"My nee-chan used to look up to him, too, maybe even more than you, and she can testify first hand that Orochimaru only helps you as long as you are useful to him. After that, he casts you aside, like he did to her." _Cast aside_, she thoguht, wiping away he tears. _Is that what happened to Zaku, then? I haven't seen him in three days. Was his usefulness_ over?

"I can't promise that things will always be good, but, Kin-chan, I _do_ promise that you will always have friends here, and we won't turn our backs on you." Kin looked one last time out at the battle, and once at Dosu, then back to Naruto. She lifted her hands and began untying the knot that held her headband.

"Naruto, it's true I have bonds with those in Sound, but none of them have ever been as strong as the one I have with you. Recently," she continued, "I learned a lesson from someone. He said that friends are more important than the village, and I believe him." She looked Naruto full on the face, her hand, clutching her headband extended. "I choose you, Naruto, who has trusted me so much, though we've known each other for so short a time. I renounce...the Sound Village and Orochimaru." She dropped her headband, letting it clatter to the floor. "And," she added, "I will fight to protect my friends' village." Naruto smiled joyously.

"Thank-you," she whispered, moving to hug her only to be interrupted by Sakura, who came flying down the stairs.

"Naruto, Sasuke's followed Gaara! Kakashi Sensei is sending us to find him." The remaining shinobi looked at the pinkette in startlement.

"Sakura? But, why? Won't his sensei go after him?" Sakura waved away Kin's comment, taking in the hug she's interrupted and the fallen headband. She was happy for Naruto that she'd managed to keep Kin as a friend after this crazy invasion started, but there would be time to talk about that later.

"He's got a lot of people to fight right now, and he's protecting the spectators and such. He's afraid that Gaara will release his beast and kill Sasuke if we don't stop him." Naruto nodded.

"Alright, let's go!" The two of them jumped, following the ninja hound that had been tailing behind Sakura before, one of Kakashi's dog summons.

"Hey, wait for me," Kin yelled out, pausing as she recalled her teammate.

"Dosu?" He had remained sitting in the same position almost since the beginning of the invasion. He grunted, arms crossed.

"I may have owed Orochimaru-sama once, but my dead ended the moment he sent us to our deaths. Still, Sound is my village, and I don't think I want to fight them." He shook his head. "I'm glad you've made your decision, Kin, but I'm not close to Naruto like you. I can't switch sides during the battle." Kin looked down sadly before Haku spoke up, leaning down into his face, hands on her hips.

"So, all talk after all, huh?"

"Hmph."

"Did you tell me once that friends, especially teammates, are most imporant." She pointed at Kin. "She's your teammate, and she's fighting. And...and me..." Kin caught Dosu wince even as Haku blinked away her tears. "I _thought_ we'd become friends. So what about me? I'm leaf, so I'm going to fight. What are _you_ going to do." Kin gasped as Dosu stood almost straight up, towering over each of them.

"You...are not...fighting."

"Yes-I-am," she said firmly, emphasizing her point by poking his chest with her index. "This is where my friends are, and the person I want to protect, so I'm fighting, no matter what you say." She waved a hand, indicatating that Kin should catch up with Naruto, also not wanting her to see the tears in her eyes.

"I thought...I thought, after all that time we had together, all those d, d," she swallowed a lump. "All those meet ups, you weren't really that bad after all, but you really are just scum," she said. "That, and a coward." With those parting words she jumped down, following Kin, weaving through the battle field, tying on a leaf headband from a fallen shinobi.

Dosu watched her go, then dropped to his knees.

_Why? Why not switch sides? You already have, haven't you? You haven't been working for Orochimaru for almost a month now. Is it because of Zaku?_ He shook his head. _You haven't even seen him in days, and he never listened when you tried to explain about Orochimaru betraying us. Naruto's right; when our usefulness is over, he discards us. Who knows what he did to Zaku. It's too late now. I never really liked to many people in the Sound village anyways. Those that I did already disappeared on other missions. Orochimaru probably killed them, too. All I have left, all I care about now...are Kin...and..._

Down in the field Haku had caught up to Kin, the latter of who was making good use of her new technique she'd used against Shino. In this kind of fight there wasn't must use for genjutsu. She wasn't skilled enough to take on this many opponents in that way. She kind of wished she'd been more like Naruto: a taijutsu or ninjutsu specialist. Haku was fairing better, but then she was more skilled to start with, and her recent concerns for Naruto had caused her to under go training again. She wasn't quite as fast as she had been, but she was quick still, and there was plenty of water on the ground from the jounin level fighters water jutsu's. Still she hadn't revealed her ice mirrors yet, and she didn't have a full range of vision, which was why she didn't notice the figure behind her until the shinobi collapsed at her feet. She jumped, turing to face her new opponent, only to see a shinobi with a half bandaged face, no shirt, camo pants, and a familiar gauntlet...

"Dosu-kun!"

"I fight," he said, grasping his gauntlet as he prepared to attack again, "for my friends. Especially my girl ones." He rushed another opponent, this one being a shinobi who had managed to get inside Kin's gaurd, missing Haku's blush.

_Okay, we'll have to talk about that later,_ she thought, glancing at the forest,_ but for now, since we're too far behind to catch up, we'll just need to cover her back as best we can. It looks like this group had planned on following her and Sakura anyway. _She smiled. _It is good...to have a purpose..._

.

.

.

"Are you sure your gennin should go after him," Gai asked Kakashi, frowning as he sent a sound shinobi flying across the arena with a right hook.

"Mah, mah, of course," Kakashi said, stabbing a sand nin through the ribs before through his kunai and another one. "They're only gennin, so it's less likely they'll be considered enough of a threat to follow, and Naruto really is the best person to talk to those three if they don't catch Sasuke before he catches them."

"Still," Gai said, kicking one nin into another before they crashed into the wall, "even I can tell what that boy is, Kakashi. What if he-" Kakashi smiled warmly.

"I have faith in my students," he said, slashing at a kunoichi with her face covered except for two small slits for her eyes to see through. He followed up with an uppercut and another slash to the ribs before moving on. "They'll manage."

"Yosh! Such youthful belief from my eternal rival! You inspire even me to greater heights of belief in my own students. Lee," he declared, clutching a fist as he cried, looking into the sky even as he kicked backwards at another opponent, "I _know_ you will recover!"

..._okay, I'll just pretend I didn't-hurk!_ Kakashi looked down in surprise to see kunai had just barely penetrated his flak jacket. _Good thing I wore a thick one today_ he thought, _but how_- His eyes widened as he realized this was the same kunouchi he'd thought he'd just killed, and through the cut in her clothes he could see her skin slowly healing. His eyes narrowed as he lifted his headband, jumping back from her to avoid further damage. _Her healing is almost on par with Naruto's..._

"Gai, watch my back. This one is going to require...special attention." The girl took a stance, making a motion that said it clearly:

"Bring it on!"

* * *

**Well, of COURSE they had to pick Naruto's side! Did anyone really think they wouldn't? (besides momabear :P)**

**How did you like the handling for Kin and Dosu? I had to work on those a little bit, but I think I did alright. I had to alert it slightly to use some lines from my original idea where Kin was more conflicted that I have written her character to be SINCE the planning...but I think it did it smoothly. After all, as I may remind you, Kin had NOT made a decision last time she talked to Naruto about her future in Sound just what she was going to do. Naruto just took it for granted that she'd leave. *sigh* Thats Naruto for ya!**

**Next chapter will have some major stuff, then i'll be pumping out the last few chapters every couple of days or so. I'm one chapter away from my pre-written material, and I don't have to re-write hardly any of it!**

**Also, this is everyone's last chance to guess as to the who/how of Naruto's revelation. If you don't have an FF account, please give me some other way to contact you privately to avoid possibly giving away spoilers. And remember that I need both the WHO _and_ the HOW for your guess to count.**

******Thanks for hand on with me. I hope you continue to enjoy the ride. :)**

**ps- for kyu-chan who reveiwed last chapter:**

**and KYU-CHAN ONLY!**

**Seriously, if you're not Kyu-chan, STOP-READING!**

**Kyu-chan,**

**You've made a guess on the how, but you haven't narrowed it down to *1* person, and you only get one person. Sorry! Please give me your final guess.**

**~CaptainFlye**


	32. The Chase

**Okay, so I've kinda had this mostly written and just sitting here. Sorry it's taken so long to update. Life's been...interesting. We were driving across the country back to school and my tire blew out. My brother and I are fine, but my car was totaled in the middle of no where. On the bright side, besides loosing the car we came off pretty good. No personal injuries, and we only lost about $30 worth of stuff that we were traveling with. Nice thing about being mormon, though, is that there was another member (yes, in middle of nowhere) that helped us out and got us where we needed to be to finish our trip to school.**

**On this chapter, I'm kinda evil. We have a couple REALLY good/bad cliffhangers. I'm not telling you the results, or whether the person in one of them is really the person. You'll see what I mean. *evil grin* Next chapter will be Gaara vs Naruto, and I _think_ it will also be the chapter where Narut finally get's the full story of her past. Enjoy!**

**disclaimer me-I DON'T own Naruto.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! **

* * *

It was a relief to be away from the fighting. They had been unsure how to get Gaara away from all the fighting, knowing how much influence the blood-thirsty bijuu had over their brother, but the injury was an unexpected blessing, despite their anger at Sasuke for actually hurting Gaara. Now, though, supporting Gaara between them and racing away from anything that could once again trigger his bloodlust, they glaced at each other and smiled, then Kankuro's head whipped backwards.

"We're being followed." His sister groaned.

"Why? Why now? Just a little longer and we would have been out of range."

"Yeah, well, this time we're out of luck." They paused, settling on a long branch as Gaara groaned, still recovering from the unfamiliar experience of pain.

"Alright, keep going, and don't stop for anything," Temari said, lifting Gaara's arm from her shoulders.

"Whoa, hold on! What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm going to slow down who ever's chasing us. We need to get Gaara out, and you're the one to do it. I'm the oldest-"

"So you're the one who needs to stay with him." Kankuro looked down. "Temari, ever since we were kids, you've been the one looking out for him. Me? I was the one who was scared, the one who didn't push to look after him. It's _my_ turn to watch his back," he delcared. "It's _my_ turn to protect him. Besides, even if he doesn't say it, no matter how much he denies it, we both know he trusts you more than me. You're the better one to get him out of here, and distraction is something I'm better at than you anyway." Temari met her brother's hard stare, willing him to back down only to be surprised by his conviction.

"Fine," she said, slinging Gaara's arm back over her shoulders. "But you'd better make it back home."

"Mah, don't worry, I'll be fine," he said, "now get out of here." Temari nodded as she hoisted Gaara up and continued through the trees. Kankuro turned around and prepared for his coming opponent.

.

.

.

She was fast; amazingly fast. Kakashi, despite his long years of experience and training on top of his natural talent, would have had trouble tracking her movements without his sharingan. As it was he was amazed by what he saw. Ever nick, every scratch, every wound he inflicted healed within seconds. What made him narrow his eyes was the tiny chakra fluxes with each hit. It almost made her chakra look like a small fire, flickering quickly and going away.

On top of all this, she seemed intimately familiar with Kakahsi's taijutsu style, knowing almost every counter. He had tried to back off several times, but she would immediately cover the 'safe' zone he was heading to.

_This is lasting too long. Her stamina is incredible; it reminds me of Naruto. Well, that and her healing. The only person I've ever seen that can do something like that is Tsunade, but this girl isn't using that technique. Still, the oddest thing about her is her chakra, _he thought, dodging another swipe of her kunai. _The only person I've ever seen with chakra like this...is Naruto..._ He frowned as he continued to formulate a plan to defeat his mysterious, wild opponent. He had managed to only knock out several of his previous enemies for questioning, but this one...he could not hold back. She was truely a deadly enemy. But why did fighting her seem so...familiar?

_._

_._

_._

Sasuke dodged to the right to avoid the fan of senbon that shot out at him, glancing up to confirm his opponent.

"Kankuro..." The older boy grinned back at him.

"Hey Sasuke; Sorry 'bout this, but I can't let you get any closer to Gaara."

"Well I'm _not_ sorry. Ever since you people showed up you've _all_ been pestering Naruto-chan, making her question who she really is." His fist clenched tightly. "I'm tired of your sick little game, and even if I hadn't been ordered to follow Gaara I would have anyways, to make him understand that he will _never_ take my Naruto away!" Kankuro sighed.

"We didn't mean to hurt her," he said, "and wether you believe what we do or not doesn't matter. We love her so-"

"So you attack her village? WHAT KIND OF LOVE IS THAT," Sasuke yelled, throwing several tagged Kunai at the puppet user who dodged.

"_We_ are attacking nothing! Before we ever knew Naruto was here the plan was made, and since that time we've done all we can to keep losses to a minimum while still being loyal to our own village." Sasuke laughed from his position behind a tree.

"I seem to recall hearing that you said that the loyalty to your friends is one that should matter more than to your village."

"And you don't think we have friends in our village?"

"Well, it's just that I would think a 'sister' is more important than some lousy friends who can't even throw a kunai straight!"

"Shut up," Kankuro yelled, throwing his puppet forward to attack his bad-mouthing opponent. The arms of his puppet exteneded, reaching around the tree and pinning Sasuke and holding him in place. "You can't understand the position we're in! We're doing the best we can with what we've got. You think Gaara cares about whether or not Naruto's village is attacked? He _welcomes_ it! We did what we did to make sure Konoha will be able to thrive, and Naruto still be happy here." He pulled the strings on his puppet, tightening it's grip around the tree. "Now just stay away from Gaara, or I can garuntee Naruto will be missing more than her village..."

"Well, I highly doubt that." Sasuke's voice came from behind him. A chop to the neck paralyzed the older genin before he could react. He fell to the forest floor, groaning.

"H, how? I, I had you..." Sasuke smirked down at him before continuing on.

"Clones; pretty handy, aren't they?"

"Come back! Don't you get it? Gaara's gonna kill you! Stooop!" Gaara's cries fell on deaf ears and he sighed. "I'm sorry; I tried to stop him, I really did," he thought. "Naruto...I'm sorry..."

.

.

.

Kakashi dodged another swipe from the kunoichi's kunai, almost ready to counter attack and finish. She healed too quickly for anything, but thanks to his sharingan he'd realized something: every time she healed an injury, there was a slight pause proportionate to the severity of the injury. Even with the sharingan it was hard to notice. The trick here would be to cause enough damage to take her out for a few seconds, and use that time to either finish the job, or secure her for questioning. As powerful as she was it was likely that she'd have good intel on Orochimaru, but at the same time he was hesitant to let her live, dangerous as she was.

The kunoichi charged at him once more, pulling out a tanto strapped to her back, flowing from attack to attack seamlessly. Kakashi grimaced as he remembered a not so long ago encounter with another sword master. Still, their styles were different. This one was more like his own from when he was a young jounin. It wouldn't be so hard to counter. He took note of his surroundings, pulling his fingers together as his opponent scored a slash on his arm.

"Hidden mist jutsu!" Zabuza had taunted him once about his inability to counter the silent killing technique while in the mist. It had been mostly true, but only because the man had attained a level of mastery beyond anyone Kakashi had ever met. Kakashi himself had good hearing, and his nin-hounds to catch the scent if need be. He hoped he didn't need to summon them, even though he had planned for it. Ever since fighting the demon of the mist he had wondered if it was possible to tweak the fog a little. He slipped into the mist and waited a moment, smiling as his practice came to fruition.

.

.

.

"Okay, so what do we do when we catch up?" Pakkun grunted.

"How should I know? Kakashi just asked me to help you get there. I'm not a combat type, I'm a tracker." Naruto scrunched up her face in frustration.

"What a joke," she muttered.

"Hey, I'd like to see you try to track them down," he said, glaring up at her. "Do you have any training in tracking? Didn't think so. Can you smell another human's scent? Yeah that's what I...what?"

"Well," Naruto said, glancing at Sakura, "I've got better senses. I'm sure you know why." Pakkun sniffed the air in disdain and paused.

"Ah; you're _that_ kid. Guess that makes sense," he grumbled, "but you still can't track your boyfriend's scent, can you?"

"I guess no-wait! How did you know that?"

"His smell is all over you." Naruto and Sakura both blushed.

"Well, um, how about we just focus on catching up," Sakura said. "After all, they have a head start and Sasuke is pretty fast, isn't her Naruto." The blonde nodded.

"Yeah, he is, but I'm faster."

"But since we're following we're going slower," her teammate pointed out.

"Exactly. That's why you need me. With my nose we're losing a lot less time than if you two were trying to follow him alone."

"...alright, fine," Naruto exclaimed. "You're not a lame dog!" Pakkun grinned.

"Thank-you. Now, as for planning ahead-" he stopped, almost making the two girls trip over him.

"Waaah! I take it back! You are _such_ a lame dog! What are you trying to do stopping suddenly like that? Kill us?" Pakkun ignored her.

"Sasuke's scent is all over this place, and it looks like there was a fight."

"Huh?"

"He's right," Sakura said, pointing around them. "Look at all the senbon imbedded in the trees. It looks like Kankuro was here."

"Still is," Pakkun said, pointing a paw towards the ground. Sure enough, Kankuro was below them, still trying to pull himself up to stop Sasuke. Naruto growled, jumping down to the ground.

"Alright," she said, startling the boy, "are you going to tell me what's going on, or do I get to beat it out of you?" The puppet user started at her sudden appearance. He'd been rather eloquent in his frustration and had missed their arrival.

"N, Naruto?"

"Yeah, Naruto," she drawled sarcastically. "The one you _said_ was important to you, and yet," she glared, "you're destroying my village!" Kankuro held up a hand defensively.

"Hey that's Suna, not us," he said. "You'll notice we took off right when it started."

"Yeah, but you didn't give us much warning about it, either." Kankuro sighed.

"Yeah, I'll give you that, but Suna is my home just like Konoha is yours. I'd like to be able to go back fix things once the battle's over."

"Over how many lives, huh? How many people are gonna die today because you guys didn't say anything?"

"Less than there would have been." Naruto blinked as Sakura questioned his comment.

"What? What do you mean?"

"Once we knew Naruto was here we did everything we could to disrupt the invasion. Barely over half of the forces that were _supposed_ to attack were there at the start, and fewer than half of the rest will ever show up." He clenched his eyes shut. "Alot of our people are going to die, but it was the only way we could think of to preserve your village and still be able to live in ours." Sakura wasn't convinced, but Naruto, after a moment of intense inner battle, reached down and lifted him up, supporting him.

"Alright, I'm not sure how to feel about this, but I guess I understand some. I ain't happy, but I'm not gonna leave you here like this, either. What happened to you anyway?" Kankuro nodded his thanks at her semi-forgiveness, then began to explain.

.

.

.

Kakashi grinned. He had hoped that his own training would help him attain this goal, but the woman's odd chakra fluctuation aided him. It stood out in the mist, despite it's aim to mask chakra. His sharingan detected her easily. He lowered his hand and prepared his signature technique. he doubted one strike would be enough to kill her. Her reaction time was too fast, and his attack too loud, but it would score a hit and shock her chakra system long enough to finish the job. Her fall through the air would help as well, he thought, noticing how close she was to the balcony. His own fall would be more controlled, allowing him what he needed to finish it.

"This has been a challenging fight," he declared, "but it's time to end it." A strike from her tanto followed his words, slicing him in half, only to receive a shock as his lightning clone burst, giving him just the time he needed to get under her guard. Just as he thought she was fast, reacting to his attack with a chop of her arm, diverting his attack to her lower torso and singing the clothering there and on her arm. Her chakra flared as it tried to handle the massive damage he'd just dealt. The power of the blow and Kakashi's own momentum threw them both off the roof as he grabbed a kunai from his pouch, preparing to stab her in the heart. If the kunai stayed there, it would be enough to kill her.

The world slowed down as his hand stabbed downward, piercing her flesh. Even falling through the air, paralyzed as she was he could see her eyes widen, just as easily as he could see her now exposed arm...with a rectangular purple tatoo on her shoulder. They landed on the ground, the impact forcing the kunai deeper into her flesh before he could react.

"K-K-Kaka-shi?"

.

.

.

Temari started as a kunai sailed by her ear, twisting to land facing her assailent. It was the worse possible scenario.

"…Sasuke…no…" Sasuke grunted as he prepared another kunai.

"Yeah, it's me. Don't worry about Kankuro. He's just knocked out. It's _him_," he said, pointing to Gaara, "that I want, and you're not going to stop me." Temari's grip stiffened.

"Please, Sasuke, you don't understand! If you fight Gaara he won't be able to hold his demon in check any longer. He'll _kill_ you!"

"He can try," Sasuke said, "but it won't work. He wants to take away Naruto, and until he learns better, I can _never_ let up, and I cannot lose so long as I am fighting for Naruto-chan." Temari looked back and forth frantically as Gaara began to stir, his mumbling becoming more coherent as he recovered from the daze of being successfully attacked not long ago.

"PLEASE! There's no time; get out of here! Get back to Naruto! If you really love her, get back to her and away from him!" Sasuke crouched as he prepared to attack.

"Not going to happen, so get out of my way or face my attack. If it wasn't for Naruto you wouldn't even get _that_ courtesy."

"I can't-" she began, but her response was cut off as a firm hand gripped her arm.

"Always in my way…always standing between me and my prey…" The red-head looked up at her, pure hate in his eyes. "You will leave me alone now…" Sand shot from his gourd, covering his arm as he lifted her into the air.

"Gaara! Please, no! Don't let him control you!" He sneered.

"Control me? No one controls me…especially, not, you!" He laughed, delighted in her screams as he turned to face the Uchiha, his enemy, the deceiver…the dead.

* * *

**Mwahahaha! So, Sasuke vs Gaara is next chapter, too, but it will be less than Naruto vs Gaara. And how about Kakashi's fight, eh? The poll I did so long ago is finally going to be answered. Remember, I said I'd find a way to show it either way, whether she was dead or alive, so the question is...is it really her?**

**As I said, next chapter Naruto will learn the truth. For sure. It will be one of the longer chapters, but I WILL have it happen next chapter. After all, I've got most of the rest of the story written, and after waiting as long as you have for the story in general, and this particular update, and think you all deserve a nice long chapter.**

**Take care ya'll!**


	33. Catching Up with Family, Alive and Dead

**Well, not what I_ quite_ planned originally, but I will have to re-write all the material I had already done as my flash drive containing all of that seems to have ****disappeared. Still, it gave me a chance to think through a couple things I'd done and, since I the writing I already did a sunk cost (ask an economics major) I was able to rewrite it to a form that, honestly, I am more satisfied with over all. It may be a blessing that I missed out on having my flash drive with me.**

**As promised, Naruto vs Gaara is in this chapter (duh) and Naruto FINALLY gets the full story. No one ever did give me the full correct answer, just half, so no additional characters will be showing up in this story. :( In any case, time for ya'll to finally see how the truth comes out. Enjoy!**

**disclaimer me-I DON'T own Naruto.**

**PLEASE _REVIEW_!**

* * *

Sasuke had actually believed for an instant that the crazed gennin was going to kill his sister. Instead he threw her through the trees, back where they had come from. He wondered if she would be alright by the end of her little 'trip' she'd just taken. Of course, there was no time to think about that now. Since the throw Gaara had become even more covered in sand than before. Not only his arm, but also most of his face was now covered. To make matters worse, his arm was larger than his whole body, greatly extending his reach and power. _And his defense_, Sasuke thought in disgust as Gaara caught several kunai with the sand arm. _At least having all that infront of his face will give me a chance to change position and think out a different strategy. What _is_ he anyway?_

"What's the matter," Gaara yelled out. "What's the matter Uchiha? Why are you hiding? Are you afraid? I've seen that you are; your eyes have changed since that first time." _What is he talking about?_

"Your eyes, yes, they were just like mine; from the first time I saw you, I knew there was someone you wanted to kill, someone you wanted to be stronger than. You were just like me, but then you changed. Where is that strength now, eh? Are you too afraid to die for your dream?"

"Idiot," Sasuke replied. "Didn't you know that people can change?"

"People don't change, Uchiha, just their power; now come out, show me your strength!" Sasuke shook his head.

"You don't get it, do you? I _did_ change. I wanted to kill him...I wanted to kill him so much, and I still do, but then something happened.

"Eh? What? WHAT? WHAT MAKES YOU TOO AFRAID TO FIGHT ME?"

"Naruto happened, and she reminded that more than dying, some things are worth living for. I will still kill me brother, but Naruto is my precious person that I will protect above all other things."

"And so you are afraid to fight! Hah! Don't make me laugh."

"It doesn't make me afraid to fight," Sasuke said. "She's the reason I fight better and harder...and give myself time to think before I rush in."

"You've thought long enough; now come on!"

"...Fine," he replied, and he appeard, rushing towards Gaara, kunai in hand.

"Yes..yes...YES! Come at me! Let us prove our worth together! DIE!" Sand enveloped Sasuke like he wasn't even there, and just then was when Sasuke appeared from behind, slicing Gaara's sand arm in half.

"Take that! And stay away from Naruto-chan!" He jumped down onto another branch, preparing himself to follow up his last attack only to stop and stare. Gaara was looking at the sand that had fallen away and was...laughing!

"Haahaahaa! Yes, yes, that's better! It is a lie, but it is better! Now I know why I want to fight you so bad."

"Eh? And why is that?" Gaara turned his face towards him and grinned.

"Because...you can cause me pain...and yet I will destroy you utterly!" Sasuke's eyes widened as a second arm swooped around from behind Gaara, his severed one reforming even as he attacked. Sasuke tried to dodge, but he was still struck hard. He flew backwards until he impacted against a tree, falling to a branch below as he tried to ignore the pain.

"You...are weak," Gaara declared. "Too weak to stand against me, too weak to win. You're hated isn't nearly strong enough to face me, and because of that, you will die!" Sasuke stood up, clenching his arm as Gaara began to charge him.

"I-don't-think so," he said. _Sorry sensei, but I need to use it...just one more time. It's the only jutsu that will work on him, and I _have_ to protect Naruto!_

"Diiiiieeeeee!"

"Chidoriiii!" The two clashed once again, a brilliant light showing around them as his jutsu impacted...and did next to nothing. He was swatted away like a fly, Gaara's sand repairing any injury to the psuedo limbs almost as quickly as they were made, and then he came around for the kill. Sasuke closed his eyes.

_I'm sorry, Naruto. I tried to keep you free, but it looks like I failed..._

"Die, die, di-uwah!" Sasuke opened his eyes, blinking as he took in the orange image before him.

"I told you before, but I guess you didn't hear so well; DON'T-TOUCH-MY-BOYFRIEND!"

_...Naruto..._

.

.

.

**A/N-Sorry, but earlier I accidently posted two versions of this, one that preceded the above section, and one that was right here from the start. Himeflye clued me in to this in her review. You see? Reviews make a difference! Anyway, this is now a combination of the two scenes, containing this bits that I liked best from them both, edited so that they fit. However, I'm not perfect (obviously, since I missed this in the first place) so please let me know if I made any other mistakes. Thank-you, and enjoy the read! ~CaptainFlye**

"I still don't see how we can trust you," Sakura said as they supported Kankuro. "I mean, it _is_ your village that's attacking ours. This is probably just a trap." Kankuro wheezed out an answer as he tried to rely on the two girls as little as possible.

"For one, I said you should leave me behind, in an area that would have made it difficult for me to protect myself. Second, I already told you how to keep the shinobi following you from realizing you aren't allies. They'll see those marks and think you're sand nin. Third…well, you guys don't like the third reason, but I still say it's true, and it's the reason we've done all we could to lessen the impact of the invasion. Naruto, you _are_ our sister, so-"

"Why are you still going on about that? I talked to Kakashi sensei, and your wrong." She sighed. "You are a little right, though; your mother was here." Kankuro brightened a little, though a scowl for Naruto's disbelief still colored his features. "Sensei found your mom running away from Sand village, and he took her here where dad kept her a secret. She lived with them till she gave birth…and died." She gave him an apologetic look. "Her baby didn't survive ; I'm sorry, but I'm _not_ your sister." Kankuro looked at her incredulously.

"What? That's not right. I _know_ it was you! Mom called you 'Naruto!'" He shook his head. "Something's not right; something's just not right!" Naruto sighed as they continued jumping through the trees, Sakura deciding to hold on to her questions for Naruto till later. Pakkun, meanwhile, had to wonder, if they weren't siblings like Kakashi said, why did they smell so similar?

"We're almost there," Pakkun said. "It seems that Sasuke has caught up as well."

"Nononono, this is bad, this is really bad."

"Chill out, it'll be fine; Sasuke is strong enough to handle himself-"

"Naruto, knowing what you do about Gaara, how little control he has, what do you think will happen when Sasuke reaches him and he's ready to fight again?" Naruto gulped.

"Well, it, it can't be _that_ bad, right," asked Sakura. "After all, even Gaara is still just a genin."

"No," the boy muttered. "No, he's so much more."

"Huh? But, but if he's already a chuunin he shouldn't have been able to enter the exams, and-" Kankuro waved her comments away.

"No, he _is_ only gennin rank, but he is stronger than most jounin; he's definitely stronger than any jounin I've ever met."

"What? But, but how?" Kankuro looked over at Naruto, who looked down, avoiding his gaze.

"Naruto? What's wrong?" Naruto shook her head at her teammate.

"Kankuro's right; Sasuke doesn't stand a chance," she said. Sakura's eyes widened.

"No way-uuf!" She was cut off as she was thrown back. Everyone blinked in surprise as they took in the large object that had flown into the Konoha gennin.

"T, Temari? Temari! Are you okay!" Kankuro pushed way Naruto's support as he rushed to his sister's side.

"Ughh...what, where?" She looked around widely as she tried to pull herself up off her back where she'd fallen. "Gaara, no! Sasuke! Kankuro? Where's...Naruto!" Naruto had jumped down and was inspecting Sakura. Both the girls had hit their heads, but Temari was certainly the worst off. She'd been flying an an incredible velocity when she'd run into Sakura. The younger girl had softened the eventual impact, but there was still blood pouring from a wound over her brow, and there was a small, but distinct, red stain growing slowly in her hair. Sakura was only dazed, however, and had a bump on her head and several bruises.

"Eh? What is it? What happened to you? Crap, hold still; I've got some bandages right here-" Temari grabbed her hand.

"No, don't worry about me. Sasuke, he's caught up, and Gaara is-" She broke off as she began crying. "Naruto, he's loosing it! His blood lust is taking over and Shukaku is taking control. Please, you're the only one who, who can help him. You, you've been through the same things; you have the same power. You can stop him! Please, save out brother, or Sasuke won't be the only one dying today." She gripped Naruto's hand. "Please, get Sasuke away from him; make him stop! You're the only one that can now, and the only one he can't kill…please…" Naruto looked deep into her eyes, then gripped Temari's hand back and sighed.

"Alright, fine, I'll do what I can, but if he's lost it like you said...I'm not the same. I can try, but I don't know if I can pull out the power like he can. My...tenant...isn't as connected as his is."

"...I, I understand," Temari said, gripping the other girl even more tightly. "Do, do what you have to, but please try not to kill him." Naruto nodded. "Thank-you."

"No problem," she said before turning to Sakura and Pakkun. "I think I can find Sasuke and Gaara from here. Just take care of them, okay?"

"What? Naruto how can you say that? You've seen how Gaara is; what makes you think you can take him on? He's crazy!" Naruto clasped her teammate by the shoulders.

"Sakura, the reason I can take him on is the same reason everyone has always hated me. I…we both have…" She sighed. "We both have a demon inside us. In my case it's isolated and has no control over me, but in Gaara's case…his demon has a lot of influence over him. Sasuke was doing alright, but once Gaara's demon comes out he won't stand a chance. I'm not even sure I will, but I think, being like Gaara is, I can at least help him get control again." Sakura embraced Naruto as she cried into her.

"Naruto I, I don't know what you're talking about about demons, but you're my friend, no matter what, I promise. I just, I don't want you to die facing him, okay?" Naruto nodded, hugging her back quickly before turning to Temari again.

"Deal. I may not be your sister, but I am your friend, and I'll do all I can to stop him. I'll _make_ him treat you like a sister again," she said, and with that she turned and jumped into the trees, following the path Temari had left through the trees. It wouldn't be hard to find Gaara and Sasuke now, especially with shouts and flashes from their fighting.

"They'll be fine, Temari, I know it. Naruto, she'll stop them both and keep them alive." Temari sighed as she laid back.

"I hope so," she said tierdly. "I hope so."

"Ummm...so, can anyone tell me what just happened? What were you guys talking about?" The sand siblings looked back and forth at each other.

"Gaara and Naruto both carry a heavy burden, one that almost no one can understand, but they've handled it a lot differently. Still, if Naruto hasn't told you, we won't either. That's _her_ job."

"But, but-" She sighed in frustration, wincing as he ran her fingers through her hair and hit her bump. "Fine, but I'm make sure she tells me later. For now, Temari, you're bleeding and we need to take care of the blood."

"But Naruto already took the bandages-"

"And she isn't the _only_ one with med supplies. I thought you two were experianced. Don't you even carry a first aid kit?" They looked at each other and blushed.

"Well, we've never really needed one, not with Gaara around."

"Baki-sensei always carries his though," Temari pointed out. "SHe's right, we've been negligent. Another lesson for tomorrow. But enough talk, lets get my bleeding stopped before I loose too much blood." Kankuro nodded and he and the pinkette got to work.

_Please, Naruto, Gaara...be careful...don't die..._

.

.

.

"I told you before, but I guess you didn't hear so well; DON'T-TOUCH-MY-BOYFRIEND!" The boys started at the girl as she took her stance over Sasuke's prone figure.

"Naruto...get, get out of here; he's, he's too much to handle. Run away!" Instead of listening to him she turned around to smile at him sadly.

"I'm sorry, Sauke, but I can't. Like Temari said, I'm the only one who can handle him now."

"But, but why? Why?"

"Because," she said, eyes brimming with tears, "I'm just like him."

"NO! You're nothing li-"

"He's a jinchuuriki," she interrupted. "That's what they said back in the forest, remember? That's why their mom ran away. And...and you didn't notice it then, or maybe you thought they were making it up, but what they said about me was true, too." Sasuke shook his head.

"No, Naruto, it's not! You're not their sister! I-"

"That's not what I mean," she sighed. "The other part, about the kyuubi." Sasuke jumped up and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"What do you mean by that? What about the kyuubi?" Naruto looked down avoiding his gaze.

"Oh, so he didn't know, did he? Hahaha! Go on; go one! Tell him! Let him know how you betray him! See how long he stands next to you! Trust only yourself; _love_ only yourself." Gaara cackled madly as Naruto explained.

"I may not be their sister, but I _am_ the jinchuuriki for the nine tailed fox." She wiped away a tear. "I, I'm sorry I never told you, but I, I knew I'd loose you, that you'd hate me just, just like everyone else in this village, and I-" Naruto's eyes widened in surprise as Sasuke pulled her fiercly into a kiss, not even noticing that Gaara's cackling faded away. When he pulled away she looked up at him wide-eyed.

"But, but I just told you about-and you, and you, and you-"

"Still love you, Naruto-chan," he said, pulling a stray strand of hair from her face. "Now I just understand why people have treated you like they have, and it really ticks me off," he said. "That just gives me another reason to protect you," he said. "To protect you from the hate you don't deserve." The girl smiled, hugging him back tightly until her senses made her push hard away from him just in time to avoid the sand hand that was shooting at them.

"Stay away from my sister," yelled Gaara. "I won't let you use her like I was used," he declared, pulling back his sand arm to strike again as Sasuke pulled himself unsteadily to his feet.

"Get a grip, Gaara," the girl yelled. "He's not trying to use me, and if I have to beat you myself to prove it, then I will! I promised Temari I'd bring you back to your senses."

"Eh? So she survived, huh?" He flexed his arm. "Mother has cried for _her_ blood for a long time...perhaps after we defeat you, we will finally let her taste it!"

"Not on your life! I'll squish you like a bug first; summoning jutsu!" _Summoning? When did she learn that? And what is she going to...what?_ As the smoke cleared everyone stared at the being that emerged. Gaara was the first to react, laughing.

"Hahahahah! You think you will defeat me with _this_! That frog is smaller than my head! Hahahahah!"

"Hey, whats up? I'm Gamakichi!"

"Eeeeehhhhhh? What the heck? I was trying to get boss toad!"

"What's that? You wanted dad? Well, you're not a very good summoner if you messed up that bad."

"Huh? Your dad?" She stared. "How can you be so small when he's so big?" Gamakichi shrugged.

"Hey, I'm not too much more than a tadpole. I've got a lot of growing to do still."

"Watch out!" Naruto picked up the small toad and jumped as Gaara sent a blast at the toad. "Sorry I've gotten you into this now; I'll make sure he doesn't hurt you. Somehow I don't think boss Toad would be too happy if I let you get hurt."

"Hey, thanks!" She smiled, fighting down her impulse of disgust at having to hold the toad.

"No problem." Then she turned back to Gaara. "Alright, this is it. If you want to do anything else we're fighting here and now; you're not going to hurt Sasuke-kun, and you're not killing Temari-chan. Not if I have anything to say about it!"

"Then come! Come and fight! Prove your strength! Do it!"

"Fine!" With that she set the toad down and charged, pulling a kunai from her pouch along with an explosive tag. _Guess I can't call sensei a pervert for this technique anymore_, she thought, annoyed that she was actually going to use it. "Shadow clone jutsu!" With that she continued her charge even as Gaara destroyed every clone sent at him, all the while laughing that maniacal laugh, never showing mercy, and always enoying the 'deaths' of his 'opponents.'

"That's right, sister; come at me! Hit me with all you've got! Let me feel that I'm alive!"

"Stop calling me that! I know for sure now; you're NOT my brother!" Gaara laughed.

"And who told you, eh?" She smiled.

"Kakashi sensei told me; he was there when I was born, and while you're right that your mother was there, I am the child of the fourth hokage and his wife, so there!" Gaara laughed.

"Kakashi? The copy cot ninja? He lies! Hahah! He lies! He told me himself that you are our sister-"

"What? No!" Naruto gripped her ears and shook her head as she tried to focus on the attack.

"-but that no blood test would show we have the same father. You are not the child of the kazekage," he declared, "but you _are_ the daughter of his wife!"

"Shut, up!" Naruto yelled as she continued to attack, finally reaching her target.

"One thousand years of death," she cried, jamming a kunai into the sand below his partly transformed body's tail. He blinked.

"Eh? That was your plan? Away, you gnat," he said, throwing her away with his sand. Naruto grinned as she flew through the air, chuckling.

"Boom," she whispered, right before hitting a tree. Sasuke tried to stop her from hitting too hard, but he was just a little too slow, having moved earlier to pick up the toad, understanding now why this was Naruto's fight. He had vowed to protect her before, and for this fight to do all he could to help her from the sidelines in this fight of jinchuuriki, but now he was too far away, and Naruto hit the tree at full force.

"Narutoooooooooooo!"

.

.

.

_"Oh, that's right, you were way. Well, I didn't train with Ebisu; I got trained by Jiriaya of the sannin." Kakashi's eye widened._

_"Jiriaya? Wow…now that is a surprise."_

_"No more than you're being trained by my dad."_

_"… Ah…"_

.

_He was hiding the truth, even then; he, he could have told me that he was trained by my dad, right?_

_._

_"…Ah."_

_"Ah? That's all you can say." Kakashi scratched his head._

_"Well, Sasuke told me about what they told you. I wasn't sure you were actually taking it seriously."_

_"I told you why."_

_"Yes, of course. Still seems to me you already know who your parents are, so why talk to me?"_

.

_Every second he was hiding. Why talk to him? He should have known; he did know I would talk to him._

_._

_"All my life, sensei, all my life I've been treated like trash because of this stupid thing that's in me, and I've never been sure who I was because of that. I've never known who my real parents were, or why they died. This answer is more to me than just knowing who my parents are; I need to know who I am! Please! Stop dancing around and tell me!"_

.

_I told him! I told him what it meant to me! What did he say?_

_._

_"So…even with all that…even though she ran…her child still…"_

_"Naruto, she got what she wanted in the end, trust me. Her child was safe from her husband." Naruto nodded._

_"So I, I really am…the daughter of the…"_

_"…Yes, Minato-sensei, the yondaime, was your true father." Naruto's grin split wide across her face._

.

_He, he told me that their mother died, that I was the child of the fourth hokage. He didn't actually say that the other child died, though..._

_._

_"Still, the point it, there is always more going on than we realize sometimes, and other times…people may not see what they think they see…"_

_.  
_The girl clutched her knees, crying. _He, he never said it; he never said that her child didn't die, and that I was the daughter of the hokage's wife. He never said i wasn't the daughter of the Temari's mother._ She gripped her head as she kept it tucked between her knees.

"It's not fair! Why can't it make sense! What would he lie to me!" She continued to sob until a gentle voice spoke up.

"Are you alright?" She looked up in shock to see a woman in dusty colored robes standing before her with a look of concern on her face. She looked a little familiar...

"Are you alright," she asked again. Naruto nodded dumbly. The woman seemed to accept it in the way adults did when they knew children didn't want to share. "Okay...I don't suppose you can tell me where I am? That is, where _we_ are?" Naruto looked around, realizing that she had no recollection of this place.

It was vast, wide and open, and she couldn't tell where the little light that was there came from. It seemed to be an even grade that came from everywhere, only a slight tint darker to distinguish air from ground.

"Hmmm, that could be a problem. I guess we should start trying to figure that out, yes?"

"She won't know the answer, Karura," another voice came, and Naruto's jaw dropped when she saw who it was.

"Minato-san! What are you doing here? What's going on? Aren't I..."

"Dead? Oh yes, quite so. And so am I." Karura covered her mouth.

"Oh no; what happened? Are Kushina and Naruto alright? Tell me my daughter is alright!" Minato chuckled as he held up a hand to calm her down.

"Not so fast, not so fast. Naruto's right there." Karura looked back at the child in shock. The girl was looking back up at _them_ in even more surprise than she was.

"Naruto?" The name didn't register so she turned back to the hokage. "Minato, if what you're saying is true, then why is she so old? I, I don't remember anything between dying and now, and you look the same age as well...and why is my child dead!"

"She's not dead, she's not dead-"

"Then why is she here!" Minato looked at the pair of them sadly, then motioned with his arm.

"Come, I've got alot of explaining to do. We've got enough time for an explanation, and Naruto is safe." Karura looked back and forth between the two of them, Minato gesturing for her to come, and Naruto tucking her head between her knees again, muttering to herself. "You won't be able to help her understand just yet, and there are other things that will need to be done." Karura nodded, then quickly gave her child a hug.

"I'll be back with you soon," she whispered, trying not to cry at the shuddered than ran through her daugher's body at the touch before following Minato. "Alright," she said, "I want an explanation, and it had_ better_ be good!"

.

.

.

"Everyone was dying, and there was nothing I could do to defeat such a beast. At least, not truely defeat it." Karura put a hand on his shoulder in comfort.

"I'm sorry. It, it must hurt, to have that many people die around you to such an unstoppable evil." Minato shook it off.

"Yes, it did hurt, and many of them were my friends...and then there was Kushina..." He shook himself. "Only Kushina's death compares to the true pain I felt at what I did that night, the way I stopped the kyuubi." Kushina looked at him.

"But, you seem fine-"

"Not to me; besides, this isn't my full soul." Karura paused.

"What?"

"This isn't my full soul, just the bit I left inside Naruto...along with the fox." As Minato's words sank in Karura's eyes widened until she raised a hand and slapped him...over and over as she cried.

"How could you? How _could_ you! After all I did to _stop_ that_ exact_ thing from happening!" Minato took every slap until Karura collapsed, sobbing from the revelation that all she'd done had been for naught; her daughter had become a jinchuuriki after all. The man she had trusted to save her, had betrayed her.

"There is a greater evil coming, and Naruto...is my child as well. I, I could not ask anyone else to take that burden, and I _knew_ she would be okay...because she was your daughter."

"How? How could she be okay? People must see her as a monster, just like me Gaara! They will hate her!"

"Some," he said, kneeling down, "but only some. Many see her for what she is: Naruto, the girl, the jailor for the nine-tailed fox, and the defender of Konoha."

"Exactly! She is a weapon! She-"

"Is NOT a weapon."

"But you said it yourself! 'Defender' of the leaf-"

"But to defend is not being a weapon." Karura paused before looking up at him.

"Explain."

"Karura, I saw in her, even at less than a day old, that she was like you, that she possessed the spirit of a defender. Think about it, what you did with the last bit of your life. You did all you could to protect a child who was not even born yet from suffering what, if she had been born in Suna, would have been one of the worst fates imaginable. You defended her from that fate with your life, and she has that same spirit. She was _never_ tricked or coerced into becoming a shinobi. In fact, she failed the graduation exam _three_ times." Karura's eyes widened, but she did not stop his explanation.

"Everything she's done, she's done because it's who she is. She loves people, and protects them. It's part of who she is, and they will protect her the same, because they love her, too."

"Still, if you knew this, knew that she would make these choices..." He waved a hand away.

"I may be smart, but I did not _know_ that she would make the choices she did. It was all up to her, and I would be proud of my daughter even if she became a...a...dango chef," he managed to say, acting as though there were a nasty taste in his mouth. Karura sat in quiet for a moment.

"So, what is this danger that is coming?"

"There was someone who tipped your husband off on the attack that was coming, someone who somehow _knew_ another's plans. The first person is not important now. The important one is the one who planned the attack, who had the power to even put the kyuubi under his control. It won't be the last time, I just know, and I believe that Naruto will be the one to stop him...that she is the _only_ one who can stop him. That is why I gave her this power."

"Okay, I suppose that's better than world domination," she said wryly. "Still, if we are dead, if you aren't really here, and Naruto is _not_ dead, where are we?"

"Ah, that," he said, with a little twinkle in his eye, "is the result of mine and Kushina's studies in sealing techniques, and your own jutsu you used to save our Naruto."

"...come again?"

"I used a sealing technique that calls forth the shinigami itself. With this I was able to put the kyuubi's soul in Naruto...and a piece of my own and Kushina's. There was enough of her life force left for me to do this...and you inadvertently moved of a piece of yourself into Naruto when you used your own 'resurrection' jutsu. With your soul already there, and the shinigami present, I was able to to latch onto that piece of soul and separate it like I did Kushina's and mine. I knew you'd like the chance to talk to your daughter, and I knew that eventually she'd meet her siblings. I thought it'd be best if _you_ explained the situation to her on that point."

"So...we're inside Naruto's mind?"

"Yes."

"And what triggered _this_?" Minato cringed.

"Gaara; she is fighting Gaara, both to protect the leaf village, and because Temari asked her to, so that he could be saved from himself. This is the proper time for you to appear, just like I will again if the seal holding in the kyuubi ever weakens." Karura nodded.

"So...she doesn't know the truth?" Minato shook his head.

"Kakashi has told her _part_ of it, but she's very confused right now, and she needs her _mother_ to help her understand."

"...and Kushina?"

"Her time will come. She may be able to help Naruto out in a different way, but once this is over, what you experiance here should transfer over to wherever your full soul is now, and you'll know what happened." Karura nodded.

"Well, I suppose that even here time isn't unlimited. I should talk to her now, shouldn't I."

"Yes, you should."

.

.

.

_It's just a dream, just a dream, none of this is real, it can't be, it's too weird, just a dream_... Naruto had been mumbling to herself for several minutes now, trying to make sense of what was happening.

"Naruto..." She looked up again to see the two people from the before, the woman standing just behind...her father? She still wasn't sure, but she dared not move now as he leaned towards her. "I'm sorry things have been so hard," he said, reaching around her, "but I promise, your parents will always be there to help you. I love you...and I'll see you again soon." Naruto gasped as he gripped her tightly in a hug before slowly dissappearing.

"No! Don't go! Please," she whispered. Then the other woman knelt down beside her, care and love filling her eyes. As Naruto looked at her again, she spoke.

"Walk with me..."

"...okay..."

.

.

.

"Wow, I, I never would have, would have expected that," Naruto said, stratched her head. "So, so they're right after all?" Karura smiled.

"Naruto, what your parents did for me was beyond imagining. They were unbelievably kind, and so saving their child was the only way I could think to repay them." She wrapped an arm around her daughter. "I used a technique I learned from an old lady in Suna that moves life energies from one being to another, and in this way I took out that which made you the daughter of the kazekage, and replaced them with the life energies of Kushina and Minato." Naruto scratched her head.

"That's weird."

"Hmmm...think of it like ramen. You have a shrimp and miso. You like the miso, but don't want the shrimp, so you take it out and replace it with more flavors to cover up the taste. Then, you have something new, made from one of the old flavors, and the two new ones."

"Okay, I think I get it, but it's still weird."

"Well, to us it just made you all the more special, and I couldn't love you more." Naruto gave sharp chuckle. "What is it?" Naruto gave her a powerful hug.

"All this time...I've always wanted to hear that my parentsloved me, just like all the other kids get to hear...and know I do." They stopped walking as she cuddled into her mothers clothes. "It feels...so warm. I never thought words could do that." Karura knelt down with her.

"I know what you mean," she said, gently holding her daughters face. "There is much we often take for granted that we, Minato, Kushina and I, never got to give you, and I'm sorry you've suffered like you have, but remember...you will _always_ carry the love of your parents with you, even if you never see us, even though we are dead."

"I know," Naruto said grinning from ear to ear. "Now that I heard you say it, I can feel it in my heart, and that warmth...I can'r remember it, but I know I felt it before, from all of you before...before you died."

"Shhh, shh, it's alright. Don't pity us for dying. We lived as we wanted to, to give you a better future my sweet, sweet daughter, and now, its your turn to live for the future."

"Huh?"

"Your father told me about Gaara."

"...oh, yeah." She looked down. "I, I don't really know what to do," she said. "I, I really want to save him, and we're so much alike. How do I help him?"

"Well," Karura said, smirking, "what helped you out?"

"I suppose...it's because...I had friends, people that I knew were looking after me, that loved me."

"Exactly," she said. "You have to fill Gaara with _love_, and it will help him come back, I believe." She gasped. "Ah, it seems we've used up our time."

"What? No! I, I just barely met you! I finally know for sure who I am! I don't want this to end yet!"

"Naruto, have you forgotten already? I already told you this isn't the end."

"Yeah, but I, I don't want-"

"Shhh, shh, I know, it's hard, but if you want to see me, look in your heart, and you'll see my love there, just like I told you. I'm always with you." She wiped away her daugther's tears and held her tight.

"I, I...okay, but I'll miss you anyway...I love you...mom." Karura smiled as she closed her eyes.

"Thank-you. It means a lot to me to hear you...oh my." She jumped back a little, covering her mouth in surprise. "Oh my..."

"Huh? What? What's wrong?"

"Ah, sorry for scaring you. When I, when I embraced you that last time, I saw...I saw what's going on outside." A tear fell from her eye. "My poor Gaara." She held Naruto by the shoulders, even as she began to dissapear.

"Remember, Naruto, fill him with love. Bring back my child...stop the demon that possess him." With her trademark grin, Naruto replied.

"Believe it, mom!"

"...I do. Good-bye, for now. I love you."

.

.

.

"I love you, too," Naruto whispered.

"Huh? Naruto! Good, you're okay. I was...I was afraid you were..." Naruto laughed as she opened her eyes.

"I'm fine, Sasuke-kun, don't worry." He stared.

"Naruto...what's with the grin? You're looking a bit crazy." She shrugged him off as she stood.

"I'll tell you later, but for now," she said, raising her voice and turning to Gaara, "it's time to end this fight for good!"

* * *

**Well, a couple of you ALMOST saw that coming, but not quite. I was impressed with those of you that guessed Karura. Too bad you didn't get the 'how' it was going to happen. Still, be great if everyone told me what you thought of the chapter.**

**And sorry, but some aspects of the original fights I feel are important, or just down right funny in the case of 'one thousand years of death'. :D I just had to keep that in, and it allowed me to write the story to the point where Naruto learns the truth. A failed summon was kinda needed to keep an emotionally attached Sasuke from stopping Naruto running into the tree and thus trigger her 'vision'.**

**So please, this was a nice long chapter, and I'm itching for more reviews. I've had less than 10 on each of the alst 3 chapters, so lets put it up over 10 again! ...Please? :3**


	34. Fill the Vessel with Love

**Not as long as last chapter, but definitly got this one out faster. I'm just getting excited from being so close to the end. Of course there is a little bit of dread as well. This story started back on May 1st of 2010. It's been almost 2 years and it's almost over. I've learned a lot about writing in that time and staying strong with my own plans despite certain negative reviews from people that don't like this or that theme in your story. A writer must be able to stay strong in his/her convictions of how the story should go, and while I wavered for a little while, the story had managed to stay true to its intended purpose and plot. Some things have been added as I dug deeper into the scope, new relationships I hadn't thought about came around, and I realized how important it is to write plans for your story so you have a solid story instead of just coming up with everything when you sit down to write it. Other stories that I do will be much more planned and less prone to making the some of the mistakes I either did make, or almost made.**

**Thanks for staying with me and please continue on for the last couple chapters. Enjoy this chapters conclusion of Naruto and Gaara's fight. This is the beginning of the end!**

**disclaimer me-I DON'T own Naruto.**

**PLEASE _REVIEW_!**

* * *

Sasuke watched in awe as his girlfriend attacked the monster that Gaara was becoming. He knew she had a lot of potential, but seeing her like this was something else. _I get the feeling that either she isn't going all out when we spar, or the only thing that brings out all her strength is situations like this, where lives are on the line_. He clenched his eyes tightly. _I need to get stronger, for her. If I'm going to do _anything_ to protect her in the future I need to stronger than I am._ Looking up he saw the toad that Naruto had summoned watching the fight excitedly, not even noticing the branch falling from above. Moving quickly he jumped over to the toad and managed to grab it right before the tree fell.

"Gotcha!"

"Woah! Yeah, thanks...but who's got her!" Sasuke looked back over his shoulder to see Naruto sailing through the air at a tree, just as there was an explosion at Gaara's back. His eyes widened in panic as he rebounded on the nearby trees, trying to catch her and at least cushion her impact, but he was too slow.

"Nooooooo!" He dumped Gamakichi next to him as he picked up Naruto's body quickly. "Please be okay," he whispered, "please..." _Good, there's a pulse, and based on the impact image on the tree her head didn't hit _too_ hard, so what's wrong?_ "Please Naruto, please, be okay..." She stirred, smiling.

"I love you, too," Naruto whispered.

"Huh? Naruto! Good, you're okay. I was...I was afraid you were..." Naruto laughed as she opened her eyes.

"I'm fine, Sasuke-kun, don't worry." He stared.

"Naruto...what's with the grin? You're looking a bit crazy." She shrugged him off as she stood.

"I'll tell you later, but for now," she said, raising her voice and turning to Gaara, "it's time to end this fight for good!" Gaara laughed.

"You've barely scratched me in the last several minutes that we've battled and I'm not even using my full power. You want to defeat me sister? Then go ahead and try!" Gaara roared as his form grew larger and more grotesque. It's animal resemblance was that of a huge (and rabid) raccoon. "Do you fear me now! DO YOU?" To everyone's surprise Naruto remained un-phased. Rather her face showed how perturbed she was as she pointed at the small giant in anger.

"So, you finally took over did you? Well I'm not gonna stand for it! I de_mand_ that you let Gaara go NOW!" Gaara stared at her for a moment. "Yeah that's right! Go away and never come back!" Instead of any other reaction she might have expected, Naruto (and Sasuke and Gamakichi, though for different reasons) sweat drooped.

"Gwaahahahahaha! Leave? Demon? Oh, this is fantastic! No, sister, I am me; _I_ am Gaara, and I've never felt so free. Fighting you, it feels so...it makes me feel...alive," he said, his grotesque figure licking it's lips. "Let me feel alive some more." Naruto recovered quickly, calling forth another army of shadow clones and trying to get behind him again having taken note that before he started getting larger there had been serious damage. She realized that where she hit before must actually be a weak point in the boy's sand armor.

"Gaaaaraaaa," she yelled, "I'll make you see reason if I have to beat the crap out of you to do it! Wake up, and see who you really are!"

"THIS-IS-MEEE! And nothing will stop me now! All my enemies will die, everyone, and I will prove my existence! I will be alive!"

"Yeah right! THousand years of-" she began, only to be swatted away by his tail.

"Tsk tsk tsk, nope! You won't get _that_ shot in again! And _now_ we make it interesting!" Naruto and her clones jumped back as Gaara grew once again, only this time he did not seem to stop.

"Woah, he's big," one of them said.

"No kidding, Sherlock; what was your first hint?"

"Hey, I'm just making an observation here!"

"Well its kind of obvious, don't you think?"

"Why I outta-"

"This happens inside your head usually?" The Naruto sitting next to him shook her head.

"No, not really. We just can't stand each other much. Too much of a good thing I guess."

"Yeah, too much of a..." Sasuke paused as his mind began to consider and he quickly lifted a hand to his nose as his eyes went wide and he began to bleed. The clone snickered.

"Pervert." He glared at her.

"Your fault."

"Is not!"

"Is too."

"Is-"

"You two going to keep arguing, or are you going to do something about that guy," Gamakichi yelled, pointing at the large sand monster that now had Gaara sticking out of it's head as he looked down on them.

"...fine, we'll finish this later," she said. "I gotta go; have an idea boss might like..." With that she poofed, and mere instant later, the rest of the clones began to charge up at the monster as it laughed and swatted at them like flies.

"...what is she doing now?"

"Can't you tell? She's over there!" Sasuke followed Gamakichi's gesture and saw Naruto kneeling on a tree branch, eyes closed. He activated his sharginan to try and figure out what she was doing. He shook his head in surprise.

"She can...she can do that?"

"Of course! Though if she failed to get pops last time she'll probably do it again if she isn't careful; after all, pops doesn't answer just an old sum-"

"No no no, not that. I meant the way she's controlling the Kyuubi's chakra. She's actually by-passing her own chakra and gathering up the Kyuubi's so that she can have enough chakra to summon your...pops, I guess."

"Oh, is that what she's doing? Well, maybe she'll get him after-"

"Summoning jutsu!"

"-all...wow."

Crushing many of the trees around them now sat the giant boss toad, Gamabunta, with Naruto on his head. He did not look happy.

"Eeeehhh? What's going on now? I was just about to enjoy a nice cup of sake."

"Again with the sake? Come on boss toad, I've got something serious I need you to take care of!" He lifted an eyebrow as he took stock of the girl on his head.

"Naruto again is it? I thought we went over this; you can't be my subordinate until you take a drink with me." Naruto stamped a foot down on his head...hard.

"And as I recall I'm still too young! Besides, what's so different about working with my dad than me, eh? It's still in the family, isn't it?"

"Yeah pops, give her a chance," came the small toads voice as it landed on his fathers head, throw courtesy of the Uchiha Express Airlines.

"Gamakichi! What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to come out and play, so I answered Naruto's summon," he said, winking at Naruto. "Besides, if I'm going to take over for you someday I figure'd I should get to know the new summoner." Bunta grunted.

"Eh, fine, whatever. Guess it's Shukaku then, huh? You owe me for this kid. I've already fought enough biiju for two lifetimes. Still," he continued, grabbing his 'dagger,' "here goes nothing," and he charged in. Despite his skills and use of water for offense and defense, there was little he could do to damage the great being. Almost immediatly after their first exchange Gaara cackled once again and induced what Naruto heard him call a 'forced sleep jutsu,' to which Bunta moaned.

"Great, now he'll be twice as tough."

"Huh? Why?"

"Why? Because he just gave control over to his biiju, that's why!" Naruto stared over, remembering what Temari had told her about Gaara not being able to go to sleep.

"Oh...crap...well, how to we stop him," she called out, even as the demon attacked with renewed vigor and loudly celebrated it's new freedom.

"We have to force him awake again, but we'll need to_ real_ close, and the only way I can guarantee you being close enough _long_ enough to do that is if I can grab him."

"So, go and grab him!"

"Do I _look_ like I can grab something like all that sand, girl? Though you were Minato's kid; guess you don't have his brain after all."

"Hey! I'll have you know that I-"

"Yeah, whatever gaki. Now listen up," he said, taking a blow to his gut as he sailed over their opponent, "I can't do a transformation jutsu on my own; can't do the handsigns, but I'll give you enough chakra to manage turning me into something, and you'll transform me into something with claws and teeth or something to grab him with, got it?"

"Claws and teeth," she asked. "Yeah...I think I can manage that." She brought her hands up into the sign, thinking of the irony of what she was about to do. "I'm ready when you are," she called out.

"Then do it; now!"

"Transform!"

Not too far from the battle field, helping the two weakened Sand genin, Sakura looked up in surprise at seeing a huge fox where the toad been a moment ago. A fox with nine tails. _...Is this what they were talking about before? Wow..._ Even as she watched, the fox grabbed a hold of the other giant and held on.

"Alright kid, do your thing!"

"Right," Naruto replied, and using her clones she launched herself forward at the sleeping boy. Several small waves of sand shot out at her, but each time she would summon a clone and the two of them would manage to move her out of the way until she made it to Gaara. "Now-wake up!" She grabbed his head and hit their foreheads together enough to make them both bleed, but it didn't matter to her, so long as the demon was no longer in control. She kinda hoped hoped that the jolt would knock some sense into him. It did at least wake up him, Shukaku crying in dismay and anger over being dispelled so soon. Back in his original form, Bunta gave the already weakening sand a kick, hastening it's dissipation.

"Well, it's been a tough fight, and I'm tuckered out. That, and I need to take Gamakichi home before mama gets too upset. Good luck gaki."

"See you around Naruto. It's been fun!" The small toad managed to wave before him and his father disappeared, Naruto too busy trying to catch her self from the fall to wave back. She managed it, but barely, and shot back up near the top of the trees to find Gaara. He was only a few meters away, also clutching a tree top as he stared at her in anger.

"No, you shall not stop me; I never loose! I will be vindicated, I will destroy my enemies and I take you home!"

"Sorry, but I'm not going anywhere, Gaara, and I'm not letting you hurt anyone. I may not be the best fighter out there, but I can stop you here and now before you go any further." Gaara cried at in rage as he launched himself at her, and she retaliated, the force of their blows knocking the wind out of each other. They were too stunned to catch themselves this time as they fell through the trees. As she hit the ground Naruto felt a sharp pain in her left arm as she dislocated it. Meanwhile, Gaara felt that feeling Yashamaru had called pain all over his body. He did not feel so alive now, and he didn't have the strength to move. He tried to pull himself up, and failed. He closed his eyes a moment before he jerked his head to the side as he heard heavy breathing and a dragging sound coming closer. Eyes now open he saw Naruto pulling herself towards him with a single arm, the other hanging limp by her side and pain written all over her face...and she was coming closer. An unfamiliar sensation rose up within him and he cried out at her.

"No...no, stop! Don't come any closer!"

"Not, going, to happen," she replied.

"I, I'm sorry! I get it! I'll leave you alone; you can stay in Konoha!"

"It, it doesn't matter, really. Not now." He cried.

"Why? Why do you keep going? What's making you do this?" Naruto barked out a laugh.

"Haven't you figured it out? You got it all wrong. You don't become strong by being on your own. You become strong by loving others, and fighting for them," she said, drawing close to him. He trembled and quaked.

"Please," he whispered, "I don't want to end. Don't kill me..." She chuckled as she finally pulled up next to him. There remained no more space between them and he closed his eyes as she raised her arm, waiting for the cold steel of death to take him.

"Sorry, but that's not what I had in mind," she said, and he gasped as another new feeling over took him. Looking down he saw her blonde hair covering his chest, and her arm wrapped around him in a hug. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm sorry you lost Mom, that you felt so alone, but you don't have to anymore. Mom wanted you to know that she loves you with all her heart...and so do I...brother." He gasped again.

"What, what do you-how, why-" She lifted her head up a little.

"Well, it's kinda hard to explain, but Mom, she, she was..." Naruto paused. "Just like how you have Shukaku and I have Kyuubi inside ourselves, Mom left a peice of herself in me when she died, but she would only get to talk to me once." She smiled softly. "When we were fighting, and I hit the tree, I finally got to meet her, and she told me the whole story, stuff that none of you guys knew, and now I know." She laid her head down again and her grip tightened. "You _are_ my brother, and I love you, and I'll do anything to help you remember what love is so that you'll stop trying to kill, and learn to trust again. Stop listening to shukaku, and hear what mom _really_ wants you to think. _Love_, Gaara. Love. That's what mom wants for you, and to do for you. Mom loves you, and so I-"

"And so do I," another female voice said. The two younger teens looked up to see Temari and Kankuro limping over till the knelt beside their siblings and, being on either side, lifted them up to a sitting position, though Naruto never relinquished her hold.

"I'm sorry we haven't always been there for you, Gaara," Temari said, "but, we _do_ love you."

"Yeah man! I mean, give us a break, we're still kids and we were trying to take care of you without dad finding out. We screwed up, but just give us a chance, will ya?" Gaara stared and would have clutched his heart had Naruto not already been doing so. It...didn't hurt! It had hurt in so long he chocked out a sob at the sudden relief as warmth flooded him. His three siblings held him tightly through it all and he recalled when he had felt this same way before, when he was much younger. Temari and Kankuro watching over him, his mother, Temari telling him not to hurt himself...all those times. How could he have forgotten this warmth?

"I, I'm sorry," he managed to say. "I'm sorry...for everything."

"It's cool man."

"Yeah, what he said." He turned to Temari.

"..." She smiled.

"I know," was all she said, and as she gripped him tighter he finally managed to bring an arm around and return the group hug a little.

"Well," Naruto said brightly, "now that that's taken care of, I think I need, a nice, little...nap..." And she collapsed, having used the last of her energy to push off her pain long enough to show Gaara he was truely loved.

.

.

.

Far away from the forest two figures were already rushing towards the hospital area. One was carrying a heavily bleeding body while the other, using his superior speed, cleared the way, and they still found time to talk.

"You know, Kakashi, the chance she is who you think she is...who she _looks_ like she is is-"

"I _know_ Gai, I know!"

"Then-"

"I don't care! I, I _have_ to take this chance. In any case, as long as she is properly secured then she should know something about Orochimaru's organization. You saw her abilities, right?" Gai sighed inwardly. He applauded Kakashi's generally youthful attitude in this matter...but he would have a most un-youthful funk once it was confirmed that this woman was just another or Orochimaru's experiments, possibly a clone meant to infiltrate but possessing some defect. They had both read the reports on the sannin's labs and experiments so there was a precedent.

"Is it worth it?" Kakashi looked down at the passed out figure he carried, years emotions he'd thought buried, years of loss and torment ready to break him in a moment.

"...I hope so," he whispered. "I hope so." _I would never forgive myself for not knowing._

* * *

**Whew! So, how was that? Not as long as the last chapter, but some big stuff none-the-less I'd say. In canon, as I recall, Naruto passed out because he was tired. In this case, she passes out because she hit so many trees and crap on the way down and the pain was overwhelming, but she something to do. And now Gaara is starting on the right path, and the sand sibs, all 4 of them, are reunited.**

**Then we have Kakashi and Gai rushing to the hospital to heal the almost dead 'Rin,' not even sure if she's the real deal. Next chapter will reveal whether Rin died those 12 years ago, or this was just a sick ploy by Orochimaru that never went through. The answer to the poll from over a year ago will finally be revealed! Are you excited? This is also take care of Kakashi being able to talk to Naruto about her true history. No matter which it is, Kakashi will finally be able to move on. So, which do _you_ think it is? Real Rin or Clone Rin?**


	35. Waking Up

**Alright, I know exactly how many chapters are left now. After this one, there will be two more chapters, then NotS will be over. So, if you have something you want to say, better start pressing that review button!**

**In this chapter Naruto wakes up and...well, I'll leave it as a surprise. We're tying everything off starting now. What happens to all these characters for now? Who is doing what? Is it really Rin? Who's going to know the truth about Naruto now? Continue reading these next 3 chapters to find out!**

**disclaimer-you know very well I don't own naruto, and I've listed it in every chapter. This disclaimer will stand for the rest of the story. :)**

**Oh, also, I want to specially recognize Disk 9, a new reader as of 1-21. Disk has been wonderfully helpful in correcting the chapters and leading me right to the grammar or spelling mistakes I've been making. So, thank-you Disk for all the help!**

* * *

The first thing she was aware of a dull ache in her shoulder; that and the oddly soft forest floor, complete with sheets. Thinking on the last thought Naruto jerked up, fearing that she'd see the walls of the hospital and sighing in relief when she did not. It begged the question of where she was instead. It was still _obviously_ a place for sick people. The beds around her were pretty similar. She had to wonder why she'd gotten such a nice bed for recovery. It even had a nice, soft quilt. Before should could get up and investigate, a familiar face stuck in through the doorway.

"Ah, good; you're awake," Amaru stated cheerfully. "Your friend, Sasuke I believe, said you'd prefer to wake up here as opposed to a hospital room. He says you're not fond of them." He laughed as she vigorously shook her head. "Well, it's a good thing that they brought you here then, isn't it?" The girl nodded, her relief evident. "Very well. Let's make sure you're comfortable then," he continued, moving over and beginning to give her a quick check over. "How's the shoulder? It was almost broken when you came in." She winced.

"It's alright. Pain's almost gone."

"Is it? Hmm. Guess that makes sense," he said. "A lot like Gaara then. Shouldn't surprise me." He continued his check-up with Naruto staring at him.

"You...you know about Gaara?"

"Hmm? Oh. I guess I did say that, didn't I?" He winced. "I've been spending most of my time alone the last few years. I'm not used to talking with people very much."

"But, how do you know about Gaara?" He hesitated.

"I..." He sighed. "I was his uncle, once, before an...unfortunate incident."

"What happened?" Amaru looked around slowly.

"I don't think I should really talk about it. Just being his uncle is, I'm sure, going to make you more uncomfortable than you already would have been. I believe you haven't exactly _enjoyed_ your time with your sib...I mean, with my niece and nephews." Naruto stared at him.

"Wait...so, you knew, too?"

"...I was hoping you wouldn't catch that slip," he said quietly. "I'm not going to push you to believe that you are all related like they have, but-"

"What was mom like?" Amaru jerked in surprise.

"Just a moment; the last time I talked with Temari, she said you vehemently_ denied_ being her sister." Naruto chuckled nervously.

"Well, that's an...interesting story, but I guess we've got time to-oof!" Naruto suddenly had the life squeezed out of her in a bone crushing hug.

"Naruto! Oh my gosh, I was so worried about you!" Haku backed up a little, giving Naruto a chance to breathe. "Even from the arena I was able to see Gaara turning into the Shukaku, but you beat him!"

"H, Haku? What are you doing here? How did you know where I was?"

"Well, Haku has a talent for pressure points and acupuncture, so I offered her a part time job here. In addition, I have a spare room. I thought that, for someone with your best interests at heart, I could spare the room and the bed for her."

"That, and it's saving on rent," Haku added. "Amaru has been very good to me this last month," she said happily. "And he has a lot of good advice. You know how hard its been since...well, you know." Naruto dipped her head.

"Yeah, I do," she said quietly. "But, I'm glad you came with us."

"Me, too," Haku said with a smile, squeezing her friends hand.

"Oh, oh! Guess what? Amaru here? He's actually my uncle!" Haku's eyes widened before turning to slits as she turned her gaze to the man that had been helping her so much.

"What's that?" Amaru sighed.

"Yes, about that...I didn't want to say anything, but remember when I said that I lost my sister and niece a long time ago? Naruto is that niece."

"And you just happened to show up at the same time as Gaara and them, right?" Haku was fingering one of her hidden kunai before Naruto gripped her arm.

"Haku! He really is, I promise." The older girl turned around quickly.

"What? How can you say that? I thought you knew better than to just trust people-"

"HAKU!" She quieted at the powerful outburst, finally allowing Naruto to explain. "Haku, when I was fighting Gaara, it triggered a...jutsu that my dad made, I guess. Even though they all died the day I was born, they managed to leave a part of themselves so that I could still meet them later." Amaru looked at her in confusion.

"Wait, but your father-"

"Is not the same as Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara's. We're only...half siblings," she explained. "I'll fill you guys in on the details later, but it's a long story, and that's the important stuff." Haku pinched her nose.

"Still...it does make up for it."

"I know," Amaru said, "I know. But Naruto didn't want to be connected to them, so I decided it was better to just be a local physician, someone who could be a friend to her and her friends. I'm a healer, and it was better for Naruto to believe what she did than to force it on her." He leaned over heavily. "I didn't want to lie, but I've already hurt so many people I love I didn't want to be the cause of more pain, and now I've hurt someone again. I'm sorry, Haku, and I'll understand if you never want to see me again, but I'll always be here, just like before, for you and Naruto both, if you ever need help in anything." Haku bit her lip as she considered what Amaru had told her. It did make some sense, and he had never given her cause to doubt him. His advice had helped her adjust to being without Zabuza so much...

Amaru's eyes widened when Haku embraced him in a hug as Naruto smiled.

"I guess...shinobi deal with worse deception," she said, "and I haven't felt so..._able_, since I was with Zabuza-sama. Just...no more lies, please?" Smiling he wrapped one more arm around her, using the other to ruffle her hair. She smiled at the familiar gesture. _Just like my master did..._

"Fine, I can agree to that. I should say that my real name is Yashamaru, though. I can fill you in, both of you, on the rest later. For now, though, he said,standing up, "I think Naruto should get more rest. She took a lot of damage during all of yesterdays events." Haku looked at him.

"Wait, shouldn't we..." Yashamaru looked down gravely, considering. He knew exactly what Haku was referring to, and he _had_ just promised to be more truthful with them both. He had wanted to guarantee that she got enough rest to heal properly and feared that she wouldn't rest well till the rest of her vistors came in a few hours. Still, she had a bijuu that would help her heal quicker than normal people, and perhaps it would be better for her to hear it now, when Haku, who had been through a very similar experiance, was around to offer immediate comfort. He nodded.

"You're right, of course." He turned to face Naruto, the air weighing down on all of them as he told her. "Naruto, I'm afraid...yesterday, during the invaision...the Hokage..."

A wail of despair blew through the whole village as Naruto heard the news. The most important person in her life, who had been watching out for her her whole life...was gone.

.

.

.

The warm sun shining through the window did little to warm the cool dread that filled her. She had been hurt pretty bad during the invaision, and now she was being held. Granted it was in the hospital, but she was being held. There was no way they'd be letting her go. She was part of the invading army so of course she was now a prisoner, but even worse..._he_ must see her as the enemy. She lowered her face into her hands, crying in despair. There was no way, no way they could be together. They were enemies now and nothing could change the way that he would look at her, and she wasn't sure that he would join her anyway.

"Hey, you have a visitor."

"O, okay," she said, carefully wiping the tears from her face. She'd been told not to get the bandages on her right arm wet. A short moment later and her visitor entered, smiling brightly.

"Kankuro-kun!" Despite the general pain in her body, Kin launched herself at the sand nin, hugging him tightly before remembering her inner conflict and punching him with her good arm.

"What the heck do you think you're doing? The last thing you say to me is, 'we did out best' and 'it's time to choose'! What was that about? And why don't they have you in chains?" Kankuro, nursing his now bruised are, waved a hand in front of him defensively.

"Hey hey, calm down!"

"Calm down? Calm down? I almost got beaten half to death and _you_ helped invade my friends village!" Kankuro grinned weakly.

"Well, you'll have to trust me when I say it wasn't as bad as it could have been." Kin, now back to sitting on her bed, crossed her arms and tapped her foot in the air. Kankuro sighed.

"Look, Naruto's our sister, so-"

"Not."

"What?"

"Not-your-sister, remember? She told me she talked to the Hokage and he finally told her who her parents are. You're _not_ siblings." Kankuro laughed.

"Actually, she kinda passed out before she could explain it, and Gaara's explanation didn't make much sense, but as it turns out, she's our_ half_ sibling." Kin stared. "I know, it was weird, but it would explain, sorta, why there was so much confusion surrounding it, and why everyone was so convinced that they were right."

"So...she _is_ your sister? _She_ said it?" Kankuro sweat dropped.

"Ummm, yeaaaaah...that's, kinda what I just said." She continued to stare.

"...wow. I honestly didn't see that coming." Her face hardened. "But it still doesn't excuse _you_."

"Well, maybe this will help explain things," he said, pulling out a small paper. "It's a 'pass', so to speak, witnessing our help in blunting the damage from the invasion. It's kind of a secret, and no one else from Suna knows about it, but our sensei and us, we can walk safely around Konoha as long as we have an escort (mine is waiting outside) and as long as we don't try to leave without permission. They're letting us and the rest of the POW's go after the third Hokage's funeral." Kin gasped.

"He, he's dead? But he, he was Naruto's grandfather." Kankuro nodded.

"Yeah. She's still unconcious last I knew, but after this I'm heading over to the clinic where she's healing."

"Wait, she's not in the hospital?"

"Nah, Sasuke said she doesn't like these places, and there's a 'guy' in town that she's friends with. I'll tell you more about him later."

"...I see. Still, I don't think they're going to let _me_ go anywhere soon, and I really shouldn't be walking around yet, anyway-"

"I wouldn't say that," Kankuro muttered quietly as he rubbed his arm and remembered how she glomped him when he enter the room.

"So could you tell Naruto...tell her I hope she's okay, and that I'm here for her?" Kankuro nodded.

"Of course! Though granted, I didn't come by to play messenger."

"No, I suppose not," she replied, tapping her chin. "Why _did_ you come here?" Kankuro blushed.

"Well, it's not like I can force you or anything, but, well, you know, since we, and mean, I, that is...well, I thought that, maybe now that you're going to be leaving Sound village...you might want to come to Suna when we all leave...with me..." He held up his hands as Kin dropped her jaw. "I mean, I know, that is, I understand if you don't want to, and I totally-"

Kin effectively shut him up at that point, launching herself at him again, blocking any more words with a kiss. It would be awhile before the puppet user rejoined his siblings.

.

.

.

The door at the front of the clinic opened and Yashamaru could already feel two killing intents shooting at each other. Sure enough, when he looked up he saw Sasuke and Gaara staring at one another while Temari stood awkwardly to the side.

"Well, I suppose that we should separate you two for now. Since Naruto is up right now, and since she needs some comfort, I think Sasuke will be the first visitor, yes? Okay; please go in there before the two of you end up destroying my clinic." Gaara grunted as Sasuke strode quickly through the door to the room they had dropped Naruto off in yesterday after they made it back to the village. He was annoyed by Gaara, but he'd heard what Naruto told him. He had wanted to take care of her right when they fell, but he'd felt something holding him back and let her go to Gaara. It had hurt so much watching her drag herself, but it had, at least for them, cleared the air, and she hadn't had to kill him. Now, though, he could go to her. Opening the door and seeing her staring almost lifelessly at her hands in her lap he knew that she had heard the news.

"Naruto-chan..." She looked up.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun." She smiled. "It's good to see you."

"...you too." He walked over and sat on the edge of her bed. "How are you holding up?" She shrugged.

"Alright. It's...hard," she said, "hard to keep going right now. Jii-san was always there for me, and Konohamaru, too, but now he's gone." She leaned over and he held her up to him as she clutched his arm. "I, I really miss him, but I know that he died fighting for the village, and for us, so I know he's happy with how he died, and that he wouldn't want me to be sad for too long, but it, it's so hard," she sobbed. Sasuke sat there, rubbing her back and letting her cry it out.

"How...how do you make it stop hurting?" Sasuke blinked. "I, I know it must have hurt when, when you lost your family; how did you make it stop hurting?" Her boyfriend frowned.

"...I, I never did," he said. The blonde looked up at him.

"What?"

"I never did stop the hurt," he said slowly as he considered his feelings. "I suppose, I just used it to fuel my anger and rage at my brother."

"Huh? Why?" Sasuke took a calming breath.

"Itachi, my brother, he was the one that killed my clan, killing our family...our parents. It _did_ hurt a lot then, but then I guess I promised I'd get revenge, and I used the hurt to fuel my rage till it drowned out the pain, and everthing else, too."

"But, to loose your pain for hate...Sasuke..." He shook his head.

"It doesn't matter now. I didn't even realize it, but ever since that first kiss, well...the pain went away on its own, mostly. I think it will always hurt, and that's how I'll remember that they were important to me, but..." He nodded. "Yeah, I think what made the pain go away, was I finally had something else...some_one_ else, that was important to me, and that made me remember how to feel." He gave a rare smile. "It was being with you that made my pain go away," he said, making Naruto blush. She gave him a light punch.

"That's for embarrassing me," she explained to his confused face. "And this," she continued, putting a hand to his face, "is for helping me feel better." They kissed for a little while before Naruto decided she wanted to talk more.

"So, what about Itachi?" The Uchiha frowned again.

"Well, I still want to kill him, but it doesn't feel as urgent anymore, and I know Mom would have been happy, since she always told me to be friends with you."

"Really? Huh, I wonder..."

"Hm?" She shook her head.

"Nothing; don't worry about it now." She hugged him tightly. "Still, I'd hate to loose you because you died fighting him, so when you fight him, I'm gonna help." Sasuke pushed her back, pointing a finger in her face.

"Oooh no! No you don't! You are _not_ getting invovled in this," he declard. "This is not about you, it's about the Uchiha, and-"

"And if we stay together, then guess what? I'm gonna be _Mrs_ Uchiha, so this _is_ about me too. Besides," she said, "I want to hear from him why he did it." Sasuke laughed bitterly.

"He already told me. He was 'testing his strength' he said." Naruto scrunched up her nose.

"Maybe, but still, I want to hear it from him. There's what we tell people, then there's what we really mean. Sensei talked about it at the test, remember? So, things aren't always what they seem. Why kill everyone but you? You were still a kid then."

"He said I had potential beyond the rest of the clan, the one person he could really test himself on."

"Sounds fishy to me," Naruto said, "but I never...well, I guess I _did_ have a brother, but not in the same way."

"Naruto-"

"No," she said, holding up a hand. "I not objecting to killing him. I just want to hear from him again why he did it."

"...hn, whatever." Naruto laughed.

"Heh, been a while since you've done that. You look ugly like that, though."

"..."

* * *

**Heheh, I bet I got you with that Kin and Kankuro scene, didn't I? I'll bet you thought that was 'Rin,' didn't you? Sorry, but that won't be till next chapter. *evil grin* Honestly though, I _was_ going to do it this chapter, but when I organized all the things I had decided I was going to do in these last few chapters and how_ many_ chapters there would be, I ended up putting it into the next chapter. It's just the way things worked out. Sorry! Still, how did you like that scene? When I originally wrote it a year or so back I have intended on Kin _not_ knowing about the sand sibs thinking Naruto was their sister and getting jealous over Naruto because she thinks that Kankuro likes her because of his talking about her and spending time with her. Obviously that changed, but it was funny. I was going to still add it in down here so ya'll could see it, but it's on my missing flash drive. Let me know if you want to see it, and when i recover it I'll make sure to send it to you.**

**In other news, Haku officially sees Yashamaru as a father figure. It was really hard to try and get it that way, but I did the best I could. Perhaps I can do stuff like that better after I've been a father. Still, I tried to keep Naruto in the situation to enforce the idea of adult-child relationship, and of course the way he ruffles her hair, so I thought it worked out. Remember, Haku likes someone else... :) **

**Just two chapters left! I hope you enjoy the concluding chapters of NotS. Take care everyone!**


	36. Old Friends

**Second to last chapter, and we're tying up several loose ends. Which ones? Well, I'm sure you can guess some of them, but a couple might be a surprise. I was sure surprised by one! (more on that in the end notes)**

**If I may request, though...go back and review the last chapter before you read and review this one, okay? The poor guy only got 6 reviews! I mean come on! That's the lowest number of reviews in over 20 chapters, and the story has more readers than ever! 271 faves and 276 alerts, and only 6 people can review a chapter? Come ON people! It only takes a moment, you know, and we're winding down the story, too. Don't let the reviews drop off! Makes these last two the most reviewed chapters, and I PROMISE you all I'll write a sequel. Honest!**

**But without further a-due, here's the newest chapter.**

* * *

Gaara had continued to stare at the man taking care of his sister ever since Sasuke disappeared into her room. He still didn't approve, but Kankuro kept telling him that it was just him being an overprotective older brother. He had rolled his eyes then, but right now he had other issues to deal with.

"You tried to kill me," he said simply. His uncle nodded.

"You were being controlled by my father." Yashamaru nodded again.

"But you _did_ care for my well being, outside being controlled." The man slumped as he nodded.

"Though obviously I did not resist well enough. I am sorry." Gaara blinked.

"Sorry? For what?"

"For hurting you like I did; for perpetrating the act that led you to become what you have been ever since that day." Gaara grunted in annoyance.

"There is nothing to forgive."

"What? But Gaara, after all that's happened, how can you forgive him so quickly? Not that I'm against it, mind you," Temari asked, who had been looking back and forth between the two the whole time. After they had dropped Naruto off the night before they had gone to turn themselves in. Thanks to Hayate and Baki they recieved good treatment, but in the middle of the night Gaara had upended their beds to wake them up, asking how his uncle was still alive. It turned out that while he hadn't recognized him immediatly, staying up at night thinking about the day had helped him realize 'Amaru' was actually his uncle in disguise...a man who _should_ have been dead. It warranted an explanation, and Temari and Kankuro gave him one that he was satisfied with. Well, satisfied enough to wait until morning to press it further. Temari wasn't sure how things would turn out, but for some reason Kankuro had felt that it would be fine. In answer to her question now, Gaara barely even turned.

"It was my father that wronged me, not my uncle, so he never did anything wrong." Directing his words to his uncle once more, Gaara continued. "How ever, you have a debt to me, and to repay it I demand that you watch over Naruto as she remains...in her home."

"What? How can you say he doesn't owe you anything then say that he does?" Gaara grunted again.

"I didn't say he didn't owe me, just that he didn't wrong me. However, there have been many years I was deprived of a caring person's presence, so he owes me that lost time we could have spent together. Again I say, uncle, to repay me that lost time, you _are _going to watch over Naruto."

"Of course," Yashamaru smiled. "After all, your father stole time from us as well."

"That is good enough," he said, but he threw up a small sand wall when his uncle tried to give him a hug. "No! I, I've had enough of those," he muttered, walking out of the clinic to wait for Sasuke to finish.

"...Sorry, uncle, but with all that's happened, Gaara's not really into letting people into his personal boundaries." Yashamaru nodded.

"Of course, it makes sense. You'll try to wear him down on that, right?" Temari laugh.

"Like sister likes to say, 'believe it'!"

.

.

.

There was a heavy weight on her chest, and a deep pain. She could hardly breathe. Her mind flashed and she shivered before her mind clamped down on the memory and suppressed it. It was the only way she could find to survive, living in the place that she had. Her master had been cruel, evil...monstrous. Still, there was a time before, one she could sometimes remember, if she went without fear for a little while. If she maintained her calm. It was a happy time, and it made her smile. Even so, she wasn't sure if it was real, or a dream. How could such joy exist next to such pain and terror? She sighed, knowing she had to open up her eyes soon or the master would grow impatient. It was never pleasent, but it was even less so if she made him wait. She _was_ his prize guinea pig for his most dangerous experiments.

Suddenly she frowned. This wasn't right. Her bed should _not_ be this comfortable. There shouldn't be a sheet covering her body to keep her warm. There should most _certainly_ not be any warm sun pouring through a window to brighten the room. Her eyes flashed open, taking in all the details, from the _normal_ hospital room, to the Konoha symbol on the wall...and the white haired man asleep in the chair next to her bed. She stared.

"K, Kakashi?" She started coughing, reaching for a cup of water next to her bed. She didn't care if it was someone else's; she needed something wet down her throat that very moment. Of course the coughing woke the man up. His one visible eye took in the situation even faster than she did and he immediately stood up. He was patient enough to let her finish her drink, but the instant she was done he grabbed her wrists and demanded information.

"Who are you? What's your name? What was your team? How did I get my scar? Who was our teammate? Our sensei? Your-"

"Kakashi! Slow down!" He relented, some, but his grip on her wrists tightened.

"Answer the question, kunoichi, and tell us who you really are."

"If, if your going to demand that," she said, "then you're asking the wrong questions." Kakashi huffed though his grip relaxed slightly as she tried to move one hand towards his face. "The real question," she said, "needs to be something, that no one else would know, that you never told _anyone_, and that only a couple people would understand about you." Her finger reached his mask and began to pull it down, exposing the scar on his face.

"The question," she said, cool fingers tracing the scar, "is now _how_ you got your scar...but _why_ you cover it up. The reason," she whispered as they slowly drew closer, "is two fold; your shame of your father, then your shame, of yourself." Kakashi cried.

"Yes, that is the question...Rin!" His lips fell on hers, tears in both their eyes as their kiss told each other the stories of the years, of all the pain and suffering they had gone through without the other, their hunger to be with the one they loved again. Their moment was cut short as a team of nurses entered the critically injured patients room in response to her spiking heart rate. Her laughter started another coughing fit as Kakashi ran them back out of the room in anger for interrupting his reunion with _his_ Rin.

_Yes_, she thought, _that is who I am, and this is reality_. She smiled as a still fuming Kakashi made his way back to her. _I am Rin!_

.

.

.

It had been some time since her visitors left. Though allowed _some_ freedom, the sand siblings were still on a leash. Kankuro was only able to be around for a little while before they all left, though Naruto was happy to hear from Kin. Sasuke also had to leave to prepare for the funeral the next day. It was this event that prompted Yashamaru to let Naruto leave that evening.

"He was the man who raised you, after all; you and your adopted brother. I get the feeling that he needs you now." Naruto thanked her uncle, though it was bothersome to have to be in a place that even _resembled_ a hospital. At least it wasn't as bad as her usual place of recovery, and she had a pleasant surprise as she was leaving.

"Hey, Naruto! Over here!" Running towards here was her other teammate, Sakura. She skidding to a halt infront of her, embracing the blonde. "Oh Naruto, we were so worried when you passed out yesterday! You should have seen how paniced Sasuke was; I wasn't even able to keep up they rushed you to the clinic so fast. Are you better already? That was fast healing!" Naruto laughed.

"Yeah, well, you know me; I'm a fast healer," she said. "I almost worried that you weren't going to come visit," she said, voice lowering. Sakura looked at her in confusion.

"What? Why?"

"Didn't you see the fight yesterday?" Sakura nodded. "...and that didn't do anything to you?" Sakura thought for a moment.

"Well, Temari said it was your job to tell me, but there _are_ some things I'm curious about, like what makes you and Gaara so similar...besides apparently being siblings after all." Naruto chuckled nervously.

"Yeah, that one was a surprise to me," she said as they started walking.

"Do I get to hear how that happened?" Naruto twisted her nose.

"Well, it'd be hard to explain, and even _I_ don't quite get it. Talking with nee-chan will probably help with figuring things out."

"Right..." Sakura shivered. "No offense, but that lady is scary."

"Not as scary being a jinchuuriki," Naruto muttered. She kept walking for a moment before she froze. "Crap!" She raised her arms, waving them around defensivly. "Sakura-chan, I can explain! It's not as bad as its sounds! I promise! I- Why are you laughing."

"Well, after what you and Gaara did yesterday, I _did_ kind of wonder, but I already told you, didn't?" She smiled brightly. "Friends stick together no matter what, so I'm sticking with you, Naruto." Naruto's smile split her face as she hugged Sakura tightly, thanking her though she hardly believed she had been accepted so quickly. Things really were starting to look up. Of course, as soon as she did look up she paled.

"Ahhhh! Run away! I don't want her to bop me on the head!"

"Get back here gaki! You've got some explaining to do!" Sakura stared as both kunoichi's dissappeared in twin clouds of dust.

"Was that...Anko?"

"Ahhhh! Don't hurt me!"

"I'm only gonna hurt you if you keep running, so stop it!"

"But you said you would bop me!"

"What? No I didn't!"

"Yes you did! Right after you told me about Iruka sensei planning a dinner for you!" Anko stumbled.

"How the CRAP did you know that? I told that to your clone!"

"It's not my fauuuuulllllt!"

"Of course not," Iruka said, appearing in front of Naruto. He managed to stop her, but her momentum took them both tumbling to the ground.

"Ah! Sensei, save me! She's gonna kill me!" Iruka blinked, feeling Naruto cower behind him as he sat up in the dust.

"Iruka-kun!" Anko seemed to forget about Naruto as she glomped her boy-toy. Naruto even tried to make her get away as they kissed only to discover that Anko had a tight grip on her hair. "Don't even think about it, missy; we are having words. What the heck made you go after Gaara yesterday? What made you think that was alright? Do you have _any_ idea what the rest of us have been going through, especially after you didn't come home last night or check in the hospital? The only reason I knew you were alive was because I sensed that your seal that...that Hokage-sama put on you was still in existence. SO! What's going on?"

"Um, well, you see...oh, actually, are you engaged now?" Anko blushed and for once, _she_ was the one stammering.

"Well, I suppose I should have told Anko about those shadow clones," Iruka mused.

"What? Tell me what? What about shadow clones Iruka!" He shrugged defensively.

"Well, you've never been given the chance to learn about the shadow clone because your seal could interfere with it, but teaching all the time I've learned a lot about jutsu application, history and theory. From that I learned that shadow clones have the unique ability to transfer memories to the jutsu user. I just didn't think about how you wouldn't know that at the time; after all, I didn't know that you'd told Naruto about our dinner." Anko blushed.

"Yeah, well, I did," she said. "But for not telling me, I garuntee you're going to have to wait to get some of-" He covered her mouth calmly as he turned his head to address Naruto while Sakura, now out of breath, caught up the them just in time to hear the news.

"Yes, I _did_ propose to her, Naruto. We're getting married in a few months. Ow!" He jerked his hand back and glared at his _fiancee_. "What did you bite me for?"

"Because you covered my mouth without panicking," she said, matter-of-factly. "I'm not doing my job if you're not getting embarrassed. That, and _I_ was supposed to be the one to tell Naruto."

"Ah, right. Sorry," he said meekly.

"oh *huff* wow *huff* congratulations! *huff*"

"Yes, we're excited, but we still need to hear about what happened yesterday!"

"Well, now that you've calmed down," Naruto said, coming out from behind Iruka, "I guess I can tell you-ow!" Anko grinned as Naruto rubbed her head.

"Heheh, _now_ we're even." Naruto sniffed at her pseudo sister before relating _most_ of the events. She wanted to talk with Anko about the specifics later. She didn't think it was a good idea to let too many people know that she was related at _all_ to the sand siblings, though of course Anko would tell Iruka later, but for now the basics would suffice. Later Anko dropped Naruto off at home and she finally saw her little brother again. Ebisu had been with him since the day before, and uncle Asuma. He ran crying into Naruto's arms and she held him through the night, taking in his tears as they mingled with her own. It was good, to get it out, and tomorrow would be the funeral. She looked around at the walls of the place she'd called home for as long as she could remember. _What will happen to us now?_

.

.

.

"So, what did happen, exactly," Kakashi asked as he held Rin in his arms. The hospital staff had objected to him laying on the bed with her, but a quick genjutsu with his sharingan was enough to make them run out of the room again, screaming. He had been without her for 12 years, so he wasn't going to let go _quite_ yet.

"It's...hard to peice together," she said, snuggling into him and enjoying his warmth, "but I have a basic idea from all the flashes I'm getting."

"It wasn't..._too_ hard, was it?" She trembling, prompting the copy-cat ninja to hold her tighter.

"It was hell on earth," she said. "Every day it seemed there were new experiments to run, and then what ever failed he'd fix and try again. So many knives, so much pain..."

"...how did you survive?"

"For the same reason I was made his 'prefect subject'; the night the kyuubi attacked I was hit with one of it's tails, right? Well, that tail threw me away with such a high velocity that I ended up in the river that flows from the Valley of the End. No where near the falls, of course; it was a few miles down stream I imagine, but when I hit the water, it started to...decelerate the charka poisoning my body. The toxins just...slowed down. That was when Orochimaru and his lacky Kabuto-ow!" Kakashi released his grip on her arm.

"Ah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to; are you okay?"

"I'm, ah, fine," she said as the pain faded. "I uh, I take it you've met Kabuto?"

"Hm, yes. He infiltrated the exams," he said, "posing as a team from Konoha. I think he wanted to get close to my team, but it didn't work out. Still..."

"Don't worry," she said soothingly. "It'll be fine. Once I've recovered, we'll have plenty of time to make him pay. In anycase, he did do me the favor of saving my life."

"...what?"

"Yes; the kyuubi's aura was all around my body, and Orochimaru took an interest. He's not as good as Tsunade-sama, perhaps, but he's a talented med nin, even at his age." She shook her head. "It's all really blury back then. It may have even been someone else, I don't know. Thinking on it now I know that I've latched on to Kabuto's image because he experimented on me for...it's been twelves years you said?" She shook her head. "One day rolled into the next. I trained myself not to think, just obey, do what I was told, live with the pain. I shut down. It took a little shock to my system to bring me back. But as I was saying, the kyuubi's chakra had enveloped my body, and Orochimaru wanted to see what would happen if I survived. You've seen some of what happened..."

"You heal like a jinchuuriki, and I never thought you'd have this much chakra."

"Exactly. It made changes to my chakra coils he wanted to try and emulate for future subjects, if he could ever manage to get himself a bijuu, I think. In the mean time, my healing made me great for experiments. As I recall, your chidori stabbed straight through my lungs." Kakashi blushed.

"Well, it's not like I knew it was you," he said.

"I know, Kakashi, and I wasn't blaming you. I was just pointing out that, while it's going to take a while longer to heal all the way, you can already see that my little accident has had amazing affects on me."

"Here's what I don't get," he said. "With all that pain, all that terror, even if you did start to block it out...how did you even find the will to survive? I thought I'd lost you and I almost died just from that." She smiled as she lifted a hand to his check and motioned him down towards her own face.

"All that time, I had this dream that kept coming back to me; this dream that gave me hope, even in the darkest times. _Especailly_ in the darkest times. My dream," she said her lips a hair's breadth away from his, "was this."

* * *

**Well, I hope that was a satisfactory conclusion to the Kakashi-Rin dilemma. I know alot of you were hoping for this, and I think I'll finally tell you the results of the poll I did so long ago as to wether Rin was supposed to be dead or not. Only 8 people voted, but it was: 6 votes for living, and 2 for dying. Of course, I knew that it would be a long time before Rin reappeared, because I'd already written the scene where she COULD have died, but I brainstormed a few ideas for how I could leave everyone in suspense. Like mentioning the idea of a clone or other type of fake Rin. I think it worked out alright. Of course, Rin has one more bit of story in the next chapter, so you'll get to see her one more time before the story closes.**

**Also, Gaara and Yashamaru are taken care of, and I manged to explain the whole 'when did he recognize him' thing. I tried to keep it in character, but I'll let you decide. Either way, I'm satisfied with it.**

**On Anko and Iruka, well...actually, I had TOTALLY forgotten that they needed to be included in the close of the story. After all, there was never an answer as the whether he DID propose. It was funny. I was sitting here writing the scene between Naruto and Sakura and wrote the line "Talking with nee-chan will probably help with figuring things out." That was when Anko came running into my mind saying "HEY! WHAT ABOUT ME!" And, well, I thought that perhaps since she ran in on my randomly, maybe she'd do it to Naruto, too, and so I adjusted the scene and in came Anko!**

**So, one chapter left. Just a couple more loose ends to tie up and then the story will be finished. This is one of your last chances to leave a fresh review so please...**

**REVIEW!**


	37. New Endings, New Beginnings

**Yikes, is it the last chapter? Wow, it took a lot longer to get to this than I thought it would when I started, but I'll talk about that in the end authors notes. Right now, I just want to say thanks for reading. I'm so glad you've enjoyed the story, even those of you who got ticked off that I stayed true to DarkSakuren's NaruSasu pairing for this story. Back then it was one of the two big points to the story, so that, and Naruto being Gaara's sister, was something I just could not change. I just had to be true to the original. I just got through it a different way.**

**This chapter should pretty well tie up the loose ends for now. Of course there's a lot more that happens in the Naruto Universe than I have here, notable Itachi's arrival in Konoha after the Sandaime's funeral, but that isn't part of this story. Whats that? You want to see what happens next? Well, here's two things you can do to have that happen: read this chapter; leave reviews (specifically on this chapter, but on past chapters would be nice, too; after all, if you really think this is a good story, it'd be nice to see you review more chapters and leave your thoughts there)**

**Thanks again for the read, and now, the FINAL chapter of: Naruto of the Sand!**

* * *

The funeral was a very emotional affair for the village. Sarutobi Hiruzen had been the hokage for several decades now, especially with the Yondaime's death. There were many that could remember him visiting the academy or the various shops around the village, just to do it. Then there was the small bit of family that remained; Naruto, Konohamaru, and Asuma. Uncle Asuma had personally escorted Naruto and Konohamaru to the funeral. He had been gone for a good deal of the youth to this point, but in the past few years of his return he had been trying to make up for lost time. It helped to have his powerful presence standing next to them, especially for the younger Konohamaru.

While there was a lot of sadness to go around, Iruka helped to lift their spirits, reminding them of the Sandiame's teachings, that he lived on with the next generation's Will of Fire. Naruto smiled as she remembered what her mother had said once more, that those you loved lived on in your heart. If that was true, then she would remember him in her heart till her dying day, and all the things he had taught her. It was the least she could do for the man that had given her so much.

Gaara, Temari and Kankuro had tried to be there, but after a short session of throwing around his Sand Naruto convinced him that it might be better for him to stay away. After all, most of the village was, as of yet, unaware of their personal involvement in the invasion, and would likely be angry with them. Still they made sure to send a good number of flowers to show their respect for the late Hokage.

Later on, back at home, there was a knock on the door. Ebisu answered it while Naruto continued to hug the sobbing Konohamaru. He returned a moment later.

"Naruto, Kakashi is here to speak with you." The girl stared into space for a moment. He never had lied to her. Still it was him who should have told her about what really happened. Him who really hid the circumstances of her birth. She sighed before kissing Konohamaru on the cheek heading to the door.

"Yes, sensei?"

"Naruto...I know this may not be the best time, but I think a talk is in order." He gestured out the doorway. "Take a walk with me?"

"...sure."

There was silence between the two for a good while. It hung in the air like an over saturated cloud, waiting to break.

"Sensei-"

"I'm sorry, Naruto," he said, stopping her.

"What?"

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "I...I have not done my duty to you."

"What do you mean?" He sighed.

"I have never lied to you," he said, "but I'm afraid that, for my own selfish reasons, I did not tell you the whole truth concerning your parents." A tear fell down from his eye, his usual twinkle missing. "I was afraid."

"Afraid? Of what?"

"Of saying it, or really reliving the past, of admitting something to myself. I'm not sure, but I know it was fear that kept me from telling you when I should have. Now, though it might be a bit late with all that's happened, I need to tell you the truth. Sensei would not want you to hate your own siblings." He turned to Naruto, pausing as he saw her small smile. "Naruto? What is it?"

"Oh, sorry, sensei," she chuckled. "I was just...happy with what you were saying. You see, I actually kinda already know the whole story now." He shook his head.

"No, you don't; I lied to you-"

"Techincally you just didn't give me a full answer," she said. "But I _do_ know the whole truth now." Kakashi began to get frustrated.

"Naruto, there is...shouldn't be anyone else alive who could have told you the truth besides me; I don't know who you talked to-"

"It was Mom; well, it was my other mom, Karura, the one you told me about. She told me." Kakashi blinked.

"Naruto..."

"It's...a bit complicated, but I saw dad, too." If Kakashi's mask were not firmly in place, his jaw would have dropped to the ground.

"What? How the? When the? What the crap?" Naruto laughed at his confusion.

"Sorry, sensei! I guess, yeah, it happened while I was fighting with Gaara. I got knocked out for a few seconds and dad, well, mom first, Karura kaa-san, showed up in my head, then dad. I guess mom wasn't too happy with him, because he had to explain to her about how he and Kushina kaa-san died, and about the kyuubi's attack on the village and how he had to seal the fox in me, then something about needing to help me out later, so I guess I'll be seeing him again later, maybe, but Karura kaa-san was real mad at him for it anyway, at least for a bit, and the she talked with me and she told me the whole story from her point of view and all, and how she died but that she used that really cool technique and-"

"Whoa, slow down Naruto! I can barely catch everyhing you're saying!" Naruto paused, taking a couple deep gulps of air to replenish her lungs. "Now, sifting through the things I already knew...Sensei and Karura appeared in your mind?" Naruto nodded. "And they _talked_ with you?" She nodded again as he scratched his chin. "Well, I certainly don't get it, but you are right, so I guess I have no choice but to assume it really happened. Heh, sensei always was full of surprises. Still, like I said before, I lied to you. Whether you think of it that way or not, I feel like I lied, so I must ask your foregivness."

"You know sensei, I wasn't sure what I was going to do about that. I _was_ kinda mad at you before, but you said something about it before I could. Still a little mad, but I can forgive you," she said.

"That's good," he replied using his eye smile to show his relief. "In any case, I've got someone else I think you should meet."

"What? Really?"

"Yeah, she's in the hospital, but I think she'd like to meet you, too."

.

Review please; after all, this IS the last chapter.

.

She jumped lightly through the trees. She couldn't be sure where he was, but she'd been around him long enough to guess. She'd been so busy at the flower shop up till the funeral that she hadn't had a chance to find him yet. Still, it was time he was confronted; time that he did more than sit around. At least sitting around was preferable to what else he could have done. He _could_ have run away.

Yashamaru had been kind to her, telling her it was unlikely that he would leave, that he thought his feelings were genuine, but he was an enemy, too. How could they be sure, even if he had changed when it all happened? That was why she needed to find him now. She had to know if her heart was going to be broken again.

She came to an ubrubt stop as she spotted something and sighed in relief. _He's still here_...

Dosu was poking at the fire when he felt her presence behind him. He was almost surprised. Almost. After all, she was the only one to see him without all his heavy gear and know it was him. Still, it was...troublesome.

"What do you want," he sighed.

"What do you think?" He shrugged.

"How should I know?" She tapped him lightly on the head.

"Very funny. You know why I'm here, Dosu." He grunted.

"Fine, yes, I know. And I don't like it." She stomped her foot down, raising her voice.

"Yeah? Well too bad! You can't just stay out here forever. This is Konoha, the leaf village, and you are _still_ formally part of an enemy village. You can't hide out in the training grounds camping for forever."

"Yeah? And why not? We both know I can't go home, and I don't have much reason to do anything else. Zaku is dead for sure. I saw them carrying his body from off the roof of the arena after the battle. Kin? She's got that Sand boy. She'll probably go with him after all this is over. Me? I have no more teammates. They were the reasons for what I did, keeping them safe. I have no team anymore."

"You don't have to have a three man team you know," she noted quietly. He clenched his teeth.

"In Sound you don't get attached," he stated. "No shinobi should. Attachments make you weak, vulnerable, easy to manipulate. They get you killed."

"They also let you live," Haku pointed out. "You said it yourself; your teammates were your reason before. Can't you find another reason," she asked, tears coming to her eyes as she remembered what she had been through, loosing her own reason for life. She had almost ended it, despite what Zabuza-sama had said, but Naruto had helped guide her again, given her a reason to live, to feel worthwhile. There was silence in the clearing for a while before she broke the silence again. "I wish I could give you your new reason," she said, "but I can't. I can only ask that you find it, or leave. I don't want you around if you won't decide." She turned and began walking away.

"...I really hate you, you know that?" She halted, tears flowing freely now.

"I suppose...I should have."

"I just don't like being forced to make decisions, but you seem really good at making me do that," he muttered, kicking sand up onto his fire, putting it out before striding to her, taking a spot next to her. "Alright, I'm coming you darn woman." She stared at him.

"But...you said..."

"And I meant every word," he muttered, "but you are _really_ good at making me do stuff I don't want to. Come on, I'll even let you turn me in. Maybe they'll let me join up. After all, being a shinobi is about the only thing I'm good at." Haku smiled, giving him a hard hug despite his blush and she rushed him back to the village, hand in hand.

.

Again, just a little reminder to review, especially this chapter. Adding a review to previous chapters would be great, too, just so I know what I did in each chapter that was preferred or not. Reviews help writers learn.

.

"Come ON sensei! Can't you at least give me a hint? Have I ever even seen this person before?" Kakashi laughed as they navigated the hospital.

"I wouldn't say I wanted you to meet her if you had met her before...though I suppose she was actually one of the first people you ever met; you just can't remember."

"Eh? What the heck? Jii-san never even told me who all came to my party when I was born; how is that a clue?" He chuckled as they neared the room her was directing her to.

"Actually, you met her before _that_."

"Ah come on; if I know _one_ thing about that day it's that only the people who came to that party knew about me, and you're the only person from before the party that knew about me, too."

"Perhaps," he teased, "or maybe we only _thought_ that."

"Senseiiiii! Stop being mean! I swear, I'm gonna-"

"Oh, Kakashi! Back again?" Rin was sitting up in her bed, reading a book when Kakashi opened the door, ushering in Naruto. "I was beginning to wonder. You still need to tell me...wait...is this," she asked, pointing at Naruto while looking at Kakashi questioningly while he nodded.

"Wow...you're pretty," Naruto said. "Who is she, sensei?"

"Actually, I'm his girlfriend." Naruto's eyes bugged out.

"Whaaat? No way! But, but the books he reads, and the, the-"

"Books?" Rin raised an eyebrow to Kakashi's stammered reply.

"Ah yes, books, well you see, that is I, urk, that is, hey Naruto, meet Rin!" Naruto cocked her head to the side while Rin slapped her forehead at his obvious change in subject. She'd let him for now; after all, she could always torture the truth out of him later. She knew some pretty good torture methods these days.

"Rin? What's a Rin? I've never heard that name before?"

"Ah, actually, you have, Naruto. I know, because I told it to you. Rin," he said, motioning to the woman in the bed, "is the one that delivered you." Naruto shook her head a few times as she wrestled with the concept.

"Delivered me? But that would me that she, that she _knows_, you know?"

"Yes, Naruto; I did, and I do. If I must say despite your resemblance to Sensei and Kushina-chan, you bare a marked resemblance to Karura-san as well."

"But, but I thought that sensei was the only one still alive...you're supposed to be dead!"

"She might as well have been," Kakashi said quietly. "She was gravely injured, but Orochimaru found her. She's been experimented on for years now, brainwashed and tortured, but then we found each other during the invasion, and her memory is returning."

"...wow. That's amazing. Oh, sorry that happened to you, Rin-san."

"Oh come on, you're making me feel like an old woman," she said, shivering. "I'm not _that_ old. I might remind you that I was much younger than your...sand mother when she gave birth to you." Naruto scratched her head in embarressment.

"Ah, sorry, but well, um, it's just that I still don't really know you, you know?" Run chuckled.

"Of course, that _is_ true, but we're going to be getting to know each other better. Kakashi tells me that Hokage-sama was taking care of you these last years. Can't say I'm surprised that your god-father hasn't been around much; he never was one to sit anywhere for too long."

"No kidding," Naruto muttered. "Pervy sage needs fresh 'inspiration.' If he stayed around too long women wouldn't be hanging out at the baths any more.

"...Naruto, I think we're going to get along wonderfully," Rin said, smiling brightly. "But the reason I was saying that, is while Kushina-san _did_ have someone else in mind initially, that person's husband didn't want her to be your god-mother...so I got the job instead. It's my job, and my please, to take care of you now; once I get out of this hospital of course." Naruto was oddly quiet, staring down at the ground. "Naruto? What's wrong? Do you...not _want_ me to take care of you?"

"What? Oh, no, that's not the problem. It's just...I was wondering what would happen to us, but I can't leave Konohamaru alone like that..."

"Konohamaru?"

"The Hokage's biological grandson," Kakashi supplied. "Him and Naruto are adopted siblings."

"Well, then we'll just have to take him along, too. Siblings shouldn't be separated after all."

"...you mean it?"

"Of course!"

"Then...yes! Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you," Naruto shouted, pouncing on the bed and hugging her god-mother enthusiastically before Kakashi gently lifted her off the bed by her collar. "Hey, what's the big idea sensei?"

"Think about it Naruto; there's a reason Rin's in the hospital." Naruto took a moment to notice the pain written beneath Rin's smiling exterior and began to apologize.

"Besides, it's my turn."

"Huh? You're turn?"

"Girlfriend, remember? So you'll be seeing a lot me, even outside team meetings." Naruto's eye twitched as she considered the possible future implications.

"That...is just weird feeling, sensei." He shrugged as he let her down.

"Fair enough. Still, I think I'll enjoy the perks."

"Really? Well maybe I'll treat you to some 'perk' right now," Rin said, pulling his arm to draw him closer as she moved to work off his mask.

"Eeeeew, gross," Naruto yelled covering her eyes and stomping out of the room. It wouldn't be till much later that she realized she'd just missed the perfect opprotunity to figure out the answer to the biggest question: What IS under Kakashi's mask?

.

The next day it was finally time for all the prisoners to be let free. The discovery of the Kazekage's body was already helping to speed peace negotiations, but there was not yet talk of a new Kazekage. It seemed that the village was going to try running itself with the council for a little while until they had a mentally stable kazekage candidate who wouldn't be so easily manipulated into starting a war they couldn't win. No one knew a bit about Baki and the Sand Siblings involvement in the invasion. They would be able to return to the village with everyone else. Still, in order to give proper good-bye's, it was granted that they be released last. Officially it was because as children of the now dead Kazekage they might possess valuable intel. It was reasonable, though they had already parted with any intel they would have been willing to reveal. Now they stood at the gates with Kin, Naruto, Yashamaru, and Sasuke, though the latter was watching as he leaned against a tree several meters away from the group.

"Make sure you write back, okay? 'Cause I'm gonna write you every week kid."

"Of course, Kin-chan. I don't forget my friends like that!" "Of course," she laughed. "Still, I had to make sure you know. You _are_ a spaz."

"Well, _you're_ going out with my brother," she retorted, causing the pair in question to blush. "So I had _better_ stay informed."

"Yeah yeah, that's right; embarrass me to your heart's content," Kankuro muttered before sticking out a hand. "Anyway, you're one cool cat, sis. You're gonna be great someday. Maybe then we can let everyone know that we're actually related." Naruto stared as his hand skeptically while he talked, brushing it aside to give a hug. Gaara inched away slightly, face flat and arms crossed.

"Come on, sisters want hugs, you know; _not_ handshakes."

"Heheh, sorry," he said as Temari and Kin joined the hug.

"We'll miss seeing you," the oldest girl whispered.

"Me, too. We didn't get too much time to know each other, but as long as we all keep writing, I don't think that will be a problem."

"Yeah, guess not. We have to leave now, though. I love you, Naruto. Be safe, okay?"

"Heheh, well, I can't promise I'll be completely safe; after all, we're shinobi! But I'll make sure I'm alive 'till I make it to Hokage. Fair enough?"

"...fine," Temari said, sighing loudly.

"I love you, too," Naruto laughed.

"Take care squirt."

"Later kid!"

"You two, too," she said, addressing Kankuro and Kin. Then she turned to Gaara while the others said their good-bye's to their uncle.

"Well, I guess it's time for you to go." Gaara grunted an acknowledgement. "You gonna be okay?" He shrugged. "...you really aren't into talking, are ya bro?"

"I have become used to silence."

"Well, if you're gonna stand out better in your village you're gonna need to make some changes." He shrugged.

"I will adjust." He glanced over at Sasuke. "I still...don't like him, but I approve. He will protect you to his dying breath. His eyes told me this."

"And told _me_ with his heart," she replied. She would have moved in for the hug slowly, but she knew his distaste for the gesture so she simply darted in, squeezing him before he could react. "Now, you may be my big brother, but only _barely_, so I get to look out for you, too. Play nice with the other kids, no more killing on a whim, and try to smile some, okay?" He grunted again, though his discomfort was telling. "Alright, good enough. Temari's gonna work on you back at your home, and she'll be giving me progress reports. You do _not_ want to make me come over there to punch you back into shape so _listen_ to what she tells you, got it?" Her stare was so scary that even _he_ had to suppress a gulp.

"Fine, whatever," he said, disentagling himself from her hug. "Temari, Kankuro...it's time we left."

"Alright, move out gennin!" These were the only words Baki said as they left, but he nodded towards Naruto, a silent thank-you in the air for what she did for Gaara. Sasuke walked up to Naruto, slinging an arm around her waist as she waved to the departing group. Gaara turned one last time, just outside the gate. His gaze fell on Sasuke.

"Uchiha."

"Gaara."

No words need be said. They knew how special the girl in Sasuke's arm was, and they understood that they would _both_ do all in their power to protect her. Gaara nodded once more to his sister, then turned and left. _Yes, mother, I think I understand better now. She is...a good sister, and she is protected._

As they dissappeared around the curve of the road Naruto and Sasuke turned back into the village.

"So how often will they be writing?"

"To be honest I don't think Kankuro will. Boys are boys," she stated. "But Kin and Temari will probably write every other day or so, like normal people. It'll be kind of funny. We'll each get letters from the other about the same time since it takes a couple days for letters to go back and forth. They'll get their replies to their first letter while their second one is still on it's way!" She chuckled.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just wait an extra couple days so that all the letters actually correspond?"

"Tsk tsk, Sasuke. I told you, that's what a _boy_ would do. Temari and Kin are _normal_ people."

"...of course." Naruto leaned into him, thinking on her next little trip that was coming up.

"So, what now?"

"Eh? Oh, well, Jiriaya sensei said that he wanted to take me on a trip. Said he needed to find 'a replacement for the village' 'cause there was something he didn't want to do. We're gonna be looking for Tsunade."

"Tsunade? Isn't she the last of the sannin?"

"Yup! Won't that be so cool meeting her! The strongest kunouchi in the world..." She gazed at the sky dreamily, not realizing that her first meeting with the Slug Sannin would be less than satisfactory. "Oh, pervy sage also said that he was going to start teaching me some of tou-san's moves. Rasengan's first, but then we're gonna be learning about some of the other techniques, too. Well, foundations, he said. Apparently it's gonna take a _long_ time to get some of them down."

"And you'll be okay? Just you and him on the road for who knows how long?"

"Well yeah; after all, I've already done a whole month with him, _and_ I'm his god-daughter. Rin-chan would kill him if anything else bad happened, too."

"Fine; I guess it'll be alright."

"Heheh, yeah; believe it!" She sighed, settling into the crook of his arm again.

"Hmmmm, I love you."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"!"

"Fine, I love you, too," he said.

"That's better," Naruto purred, clutching his arm. Yeah, life was good. A lot had already happened since she was made a gennin, but there was still so much more to look forward to. She was just starting to realize that it was just like all the stories said: each new ending is just a new beginning.

* * *

**Well, that's it. Naruto of the Sand is...over. :( I have to say, it's been a long, fun ride. When I started this story I had no IDEA that it would end up this long. I thought,you know, _maybe_ this will be 10, 15 chapters tops. The original story started just before the chuunin exams and had just gotten to the forest of death. All of that took about 4 chapters. I didn't even consider back then how much extra time the back story for all the characters would take, or how much deeper I was going to go into this world. I saved Haku, Kin, and Dosu, AND hooked all three of them up. Also Rin and Yashamaru, too more dead characters. Its just crazy how a story will take on a life of it's own, telling _you_ how to write it.**

**In any case, thanks for coming along for the ride. We're glad you took it with us. Please review and tell me what you thought of the final chapter.**

**Also remember, reviews will impact a possible sequel, so they're REALLY important.**

**Take care!**

**~CaptainFlye**


	38. Prologue: Naruto of the Sand II

**First off, no, this is not a new chapter. It's a prologue. That's why its so short. I got an overwhelming response asking for a sequel, so I've been spending my time getting it ready (and doing writing for my other stories). Most of the writing still needs to be done, but the plot has been figured out so it's pretty much ready to go. But, this bit here is to introduce it. Read up, then remember to look for the new story on my profile next week. Enjoy!**

.

.

.

Orochimaru hissed as he sat in his chair. It maddened him that he could not even grip the arms of the chair to vent his frustrations. If he could ever find a way to bring the Sandaime back to life, he would do it, just so he could kill him over and over again. To make matters worse, this body was soon to reach it's limit, and his chosen vessel was not ready.

"That girl ruined everything! Sasuke would have been mine, but her _influence_ has taken over. Where has that drive for revenge gone? That was my control over him!"

"I know, sir, I know," Kabuto said, wrapping new bandages around his master's withered arms. It was interesting, seeing him like this, the man who promised to help him find himself. It was even more interesting to find that someone reported to be focused on revenge was completely different. They had managed to keep their relationship very quiet. He wondered when Naruto had begun to turn Sasuke away from his path of vengeance.

"I want her dead," his master hissed, interrupting Kabuto's thoughts. "I want her out of my way, permanently." Kabuto paused in his wrapping. Kill her? Wouldn't that set the Uchiha against them? Orochimaru seldom selected a course of action without a purpose in mind, but still...

"Sir, might it not be better to-"

"Not if I can help it," Orochimaru stated, stomping his foot, feeling a rush of pleasure at still having _some_ method to show his emotions. "Sasuke will be mine…and Uzumaki Naruto, shall die."

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama, but first, I think we should work on fixing your arms," he said, raising his hands to try and work on his arms again.

"Phah, this is beyond your abilities," the sannin said, shrugging away from his subordinate, his arms still limp at his sides. For all his skills, Kabuto was still far from healing such a unique wound. The wounds he was used to healing were more...controlled. Despite what his life had been like he didn't have the chance to learn on the battle field, one of the reasons his old teammate became as good as she was. Speaking of which... "Only one person has the ability to bring back my arms," closing his eyes as he leaned back in his chair, thinking.

"…sir?" Kabuto stared up at his master as the sannin's eyes flashed open, determination and purpose showing as he stared at his subordinate.

"Find me…Tsunade."

.

.

.

**And there is it, folks, the prologue for Naruto of the Sand II! I wasn't sure how I was going to handle this bit, especially since I didn't want to jump into Shippuden next. There would just be too much different, I thought, with the changes that have already happened, especially with Naruto and Sasuke being in this relationship.**

**This story will have several cannon events, but FemNaru will put her own spin on things, and this time around Orochimaru is out for blood. _Her_ blood. What will that change? Just wait and see as the next installment of Naruto of the Sand begins: Vengeance of the Snake!**

**ps- remember, the sequel will be written as a different set of chapters, not connected to these ones, so go to my profile next week for the first chapter. Take care all!**


End file.
